With fears of a second peak mounting in the UK, similar to the one observed in Spain, COVID restrictions have tightened, primarily in the North of England.
Firstly, at-home meetings between people in different households have been banned in Greater Manchester, along with parts of Yorkshire and Lancashire. Health Secretary Matt Hancock states that it is “largely due to households meeting and not abiding to social distancing”.
While the ban on home visits will also apply in Leicester, pubs, cafes and restaurants in the quarantined city can reopen from Monday. One borough of Leicester will open entirely, due to a large decline in cases.
Elsewhere, in Wales, restrictions are also being eased from Monday, allowing for gatherings up to 30 people, children under age 11 to mix, and social venues to reopen. There are fears that this could lead to a minor second peak, as was seen in Scotland.
Some care homes in England are delaying visits, due to a lack of virus testing by the UK government, especially after one brand of home-test kit was withdrawn over safety concerns. Home provider MHA commented that they are ‘disappointed and frustrated’. The government says it is doing everything it can to keep care homes protected and that affected homes will get replacements “as soon as possible”.
Supporting this claim is the recent fact that the government has secured early access rights to 90 million doses of 3 promising possible COVID vaccines. The government also secured access to treatments that can neutralise COVID antibodies from the firm AstraZeneca, in order to protect those that cannot receive vaccines, such as patients with compromised immune systems. The government also launched the “NHS COVID-19 vaccine research registry”, enabling citizens to volunteer online for future vaccine studies. This should help to combat fears running high over whether vaccines produced in such a short time could have been tested thoroughly.
Noah Mitchell
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