British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned at a press conference on Friday May 14 that the continuation of the – very cautious – English deconfinement “Could be disturbed” by the Indian variant, while the number of infections with the variant B.1.617.2 (identified for the first time in India) has doubled in England over a week and that it is rapidly overtaking the variant of “Kent” (B.1.1.7).
According to worrying data released Thursday by the English Ministry of Health, 1,313 cases of B.1.617.2 were identified over a week, against 520 seven days earlier, especially in the Manchester region, Bolton and Formby. In London, this variant, considered since May 7 as a “worrying variant” by the British authorities, “Is responsible for more than half of new cases” Kevin Fenton, the head of the capital at the health ministry, assured the BBC.
The very rapid rise in cases of B.1.617.2 contamination has dramatically changed the atmosphere – until a few euphoric days ago, with the UK media chaining headlines about the imminent return to normalcy, with the planned lifting May 17 restrictions on foreign travel or the return of room service in pubs and restaurants. If, Friday evening, this third stage of deconfinement was not called into question, it is the next one – the total reopening of the economy and the end of social distancing, on June 21 – which seems compromised.
Brought to the United Kingdom – where a strong Indo-Pakistani community lives – by travelers from the Indian subcontinent, B.1.617.2 now seems to be transmitted between communities (people arriving from India having to isolate themselves in “Quarantine hotels” since April 23). In Wales, 17 cases have been identified, as well as a cluster in the southern suburbs of Glasgow, Scotland. Very cautious, Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish Prime Minister, announced that in Moray (in the north-east of Scotland) and Glasgow, the return of gatherings in confined spaces would not take place as planned on Monday, May 17.
Acceleration of the vaccination campaign
For the moment, and for England, Downing Street hopes to contain the variant by counting on an acceleration of the vaccination campaign. Additional doses of vaccines will be delivered to the clusters, where local authorities can start vaccinating those over 16 – while at the national level, the vaccination campaign is only accessible to over 38s. Nationwide, Boris Johnson announced that the administration of the second dose would be accelerated for all over 50: the latter will be summoned after eight and no longer twelve weeks.
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