England plans “level 5 lockdown” due to COVID-19 mutant virus

England plans “level 5 lockdown” due to COVID-19 mutant virus. The infectiousness of COVID-19 mutant virus has increased by 54%, and England plans “level 5 lockdown”

According to the “Daily Mail” report, the number of infections in southeast London and east England continued to surge after the UK reported a variant of the COVID-19 virus. The British Public Health Department analyzed that this new variant is 54% more infectious than the conventional new coronavirus.

Previously, experts speculated that the new variant strain was 70% more infectious based on laboratory analysis. The actual investigation found that when a person is exposed to this new variant, the infection rate is about 15.1%, which is much higher than the 9.8% of the conventional new coronavirus. This new variant has an increasing proportion of infected people of all ages. On the other hand, it will not cause a further increase in severe illness and mortality, and there is no evidence that it is more infectious to children.

Affected by this variant, the number of new cases on December 29th, UK local time was 53,135, an increase of 44% from 36,804 on Tuesday. 414 deaths were reported, a 40% decrease from last week. However, deaths often lag the number of new infections for a period of time, so there will inevitably be a surge in deaths in the next two weeks.

At present, this new variant strain is concentrated in London and southeastern England, but it is also widespread in other parts of the country, and further actions need to be considered. According to a source from a British government agency, the current level 4 blockade in England does not seem to be strong enough. It is very likely that new blockade measures will be introduced, adding one level to the level four blockade and upgrading it to level 5.

Since the level 5 lockdown has not been confirmed, it is unclear what actions will be taken, and perhaps similar measures to the first lockdown in March 2020: people must stay at home and only allow a limited number of activities such as going out to buy food or medicine . Under Level 4 lockdown, people cannot meet with others indoors, but can move to outdoor environments such as parks. Level 5 will take stricter restrictions on social interaction.

In the Level 4 lockdown, bars and restaurants are closed and only takeaway services are available, all non-essential retail stores are closed, and indoor facilities such as gyms are closed. If the lockdown is escalated, more people will have to work at home.

Whether to close schools is an unavoidable issue in the current blockade measures. During the first lockdown in March, most schools in the UK were closed and children were studying at home, but the government has always supported opening schools. therefore

(source:internet, reference only)

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