UK PM warns of "rough winter" amid big pressure on health system

2021-06-21 13:06:03 GMT2021-06-21 21:06:03(Beijing Time) Xinhua English

LONDON, June 21 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Monday that Britain could be in a "rough winter" as pressure on the National Health Service (NHS) could be huge due to possible new disease on top of coronavirus.

"You can never exclude that there will be some new disease, some new horror that we simply haven't budgeted for or accounted for," said Johnson as he did not rule out the prospect of further lockdowns in the winter.

"Obviously there are big pressures on the NHS, which is all the more reason to reduce the number of COVID cases now, give the NHS the breathing space it needs to get on with dealing with all those other pressures," he said during a visit to a laboratory in Hertfordshire, southern England.

"We're certainly going to be putting in the investment to make sure that they can," he said.

The prime minister said cases of the Delta variant first identified in India are still rising and the public have to remain cautious.

"It's going up by about 30 percent a week in cases, hospitalizations are up by roughly the same amount and so, sadly, are ICU (intensive care units) admissions into intensive care," he said.

"We've got to be cautious but we'll be following the data the whole time. But looking at where we are, the efficacy of the vaccine against all variants that we can currently see...I think it is looking good for July 19 to be that terminus point."

Johnson has announced a four-week delay to the final step of England's roadmap out of COVID-19 restrictions until July 19, amid a surge in cases of the Delta variant.

Recent data published by Public Health England showed the AstraZeneca vaccine is 92 percent effective against hospitalization from the Delta variant after two doses, and the Pfizer vaccine is 96 percent effective against hospitalisation after two doses.

Nearly 43 million people have been given the first jab of the coronavirus vaccine while more than 31.3 million people have been fully vaccinated with a second dose, according to the latest official figures.

Experts have warned that coronavirus may continue to evolve for years to come, and eventually it is likely current vaccines will fail to protect against transmission, infection, or even against disease caused by newer variants.

To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Russia, the United States as well as the European Union have been racing against time to roll out coronavirus vaccines. Enditem

| PRINT | RSS