Covid: UK incomparably better placed this New Year – PM

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UK

Woman wearing face mask and holding sparkler

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The UK is in an “incomparably better” position now than this time last year but New Year’s Eve revellers should remain cautious, the PM has said.

In a year-end message, Boris Johnson hailed the “heroic” vaccination effort, adding that all adults in England had now been offered a booster jab.

But he warned of the “challenges” of Omicron and rising hospital admissions.

The PM urged people who go out later to take a Covid test first and “remember the importance of ventilation”.

It comes as UK daily Covid cases reached another record high of 189,213 on Thursday – including two days of data from Wales because of reporting backlogs over Christmas.

New Year’s Eve celebrations are set to be scaled back across much of the country.

Mr Johnson resisted calls to impose new regulations in England in the run-up to Christmas in response to the more infectious Omicron variant. But a number of events have been cancelled, including the traditional Trafalgar Square party and fireworks in London.

Meanwhile, in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland tighter rules are now in place for pubs, bars and restaurants and there are restrictions on the number of people who can gather.

Edinburgh’s Hogmanay events have been cancelled, while Wales’ First Minister Mark Drakeford has asked those travelling to England to see in the new year to “think consciously and carefully” about their plans.

Northern Ireland’s new reduced self-isolation rules allowing people with Covid to be released after seven days if they test negative twice on days six and seven, have come into force.

Jab resolution

The Department of Health and Social Care said it had met the goal set by the prime minister on 12 December to ensure all eligible adults in England had been offered a Covid booster by 31 December. The target was brought forward by a month in response to the emergence of the Omicron variant.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have said they have met the booster target.

The Department of Health also announced more than 90% of the UK population aged 12 and over had received a first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.

Nurse in PPE in hospital with Christmas decorations in the background

PA Media

Speaking in a message posted on Twitter, Mr Johnson said “incredible” numbers of people had responded to the call to get vaccinated, adding: “It’s precisely because of that huge national effort that we can celebrate tonight at all.”

However, he said people must be cautious and take a test and “remember the importance of ventilation” if they are going out, urging people who are not fully vaccinated to “look at the people going into hospital now” and to “make it your new year’s resolution” to get jabbed.

More than 33.5 million booster and third doses have now been delivered in the UK – to about 58% of those eligible – including 1.8 million in the past seven days.

Labour’s shadow health secretary Wes Streeting suggested the prime minister had “shifted the goalposts on what he actually promised to deliver” in the rollout, but added “this should not detract one bit” from the NHS’ success administering an “unprecedented number of vaccinations”.

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UK’s latest daily Covid figures

  • Cases: 189,213 (weekly total up 45.1%)
  • Deaths: 332 (weekly total down 10.6%)
  • People in hospital: 11,898
  • Boosters and third doses: 435,293

Source: UK government (cases and deaths reported on 30 December, hospital and vaccination figures for 29 December)

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Prof Peter Openshaw, who sits on the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), told BBC Breakfast he was concerned about the impact of surging Covid cases on the health service, saying: “I think we haven’t quite reached the threshold that was set by government in terms of the NHS being overwhelmed, but it looks like that will be reached quite quickly.”

He said: “The people currently who are very sadly dying of Covid were probably infected on average about 35 days ago, so this was really before Omicron really started to transmit.”

Chris Hopson, the head of NHS Providers, which represents health trusts, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme more restrictions to curb the spread of the virus “may be needed at pace if the evidence warrants it”.

He added the use of extra “Nightingale capacity hubs” being set up at hospitals could only be staffed by asking recently retired health workers and experienced volunteers to help out.

An average of 25,273 staff in acute trusts in England were absent every day because of Covid in the week ending 26 December, the latest data shows. This represents about 3% of the heath service’s staff and is up by 42% on the 18,829 recorded in the previous seven days.

Chart showing Covid cases since March 2020

On Thursday the British Medical Association and Royal College of Nursing unions called for NHS staff to be given priority for accessing lateral flow Covid-19 tests, amid concerns supply problems were leading to staffing issues.

Health secretary Sajid Javid has said he expects the government will need to “constrain” supply of rapid tests for two weeks to manage surging demand, but confirmed the number was being tripled in January and February to 300 million a month.

National Pharmacy Association chairman Andrew Lane told BBC Breakfast on Friday pharmacies were starting to see tests arrive, but added supply was “still very patchy” and he expected packs to be gone “within the first few hours” of delivery.

In his new year message, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the UK needed leadership to ensure the “sacrifices and pain of the past two years” had not been in vain, while Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said he hoped 2022 would be “the year we will finally beat Covid”.

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said New Year’s Eve was “not the Hogmanay” people wanted, but they could look forward to a “better and brighter new year ahead”.

A further 332 deaths within 28 days of a positive test were recorded in the UK on Thursday – the highest figure since 2 March. But the number of deaths includes a backlog of hospital deaths reported overnight by NHS England covering the period from 24 to 29 December.

Chart showing the totals and daily Covid cases, deaths, hospitalisations and vaccine doses

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What are your New Year’s Eve plans? Will you be going ahead or have you cancelled your plans? Tell us your story by emailing: haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

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