Oxford Street empty for shopping while the national coronavirus exclusion continues.
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Britain has begun expelling cases of the more contagious South African variant of coronavirus and will only come out of the closure in phases to make sure it does not change, the country’s health secretary said on Sunday.
A day before Prime Minister Boris Johnson outlined his plan to ease restrictions in England, Hancock said there was also early data showing that the faster-than-expected vaccination of the vaccine reduced transfers and eased pressure on hospitals.
Britain has the fifth worst official COVID-19 mortality rate in the world, with 120,365 deaths, but an early attempt to secure mass vaccine supplies means that one in three adults has now had a first shot and that daily mortality rates began to decline.
According to Hancock, the United Kingdom has recorded about 300 cases of the more contagious South African variant of the disease that causes COVID-19.
“But most of these are now historical cases and from more than a month ago,” he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr program. “The latest data shows that there are about a dozen new ones, so a much, much smaller number.”
England has also introduced hotel quarantines to prevent variants from traveling abroad.
So far, Britain has given a first dose of a vaccine to 17.2 million people, more than a quarter of its 67 million population, and only behind Israel and the United Arab Emirates in vaccines per population.
The government said on Sunday that all adults in Britain would be offered a first shot by the end of July, with the aim of giving a first dose to all over 50s by April 15.
But despite the improving picture, Hancock and leading epidemiologist John Edmunds said the restrictions need to be eased gently and at some point to see what impact the increasing movement of people on the virus has.
Hancock suggested that each relief could take several weeks to detect the impact before another part of the economy could start up again. Schools are not expected to return until early March.
Edmunds said it was difficult to say how wide the South African variant was, but that it, like the rest of the pandemic, was being held in place by the closure.
“The risk comes when we release the exclusion,” he said, adding that the virus could spread to younger, healthier people, leading to further mutations that undermine the vaccination program.
Johnson will discuss his thoughts on easing the closure on Monday. Despite pressure from some lawmakers in his party who were shocked by the 10% contraction in the economy in 2020, the prime minister is expected to be cautious.
“There should be no doubt – the route out of the closure will be cautious and phased as we all continue to protect ourselves and those around us,” Johnson said in a statement.