, Dec 8 () –
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, announced this Wednesday a tightening of the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic in England, such as the return of telework or the mandatory nature of the vaccination certificate to access certain facilities, before the concerns raised by the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2.
At a press conference, the ‘premier’ has justified that the Government has acted “as soon as the omicron variant has been discovered.” “We do not know all the details of the virus, but it seems clear that it is spreading rapidly,” he warned, before acknowledging that the cases of the variant found so far in the United Kingdom “are many more” than those confirmed.
For this reason, it has confirmed that the Executive has decided to tighten restrictions in England, measures provided for in what the Johnson Administration calls its ‘Plan B’, which it presented in September due to the deterioration of the situation. According to the ‘premier’, tightening the measures is a “proportionate and sensible” approach.
Thus, England reintroduces teleworking for those who can carry out their work in this way from Monday, while from this Friday the obligation to wear a mask is extended in most public places, such as theaters or cinemas.
In addition, the vaccination certificate will be mandatory to enter discos and facilities that may lead to crowds, according to the BBC. On the other hand, Johnson has asked citizens to get the booster dose of the vaccine against COVID-19 when their turn comes.
The UK government said Tuesday that the first indications show that the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 is “more transmissible” than the delta, after Health Minister Sajid Javid warned on Monday that there is already community transmission of this variant in the European country. Currently, British health authorities have found more than 560 omicron infections.
The UK Health Ministry has registered 51,342 additional infections in the last 24 hours and 161 deaths from COVID-19. With this figure, the totals have risen to 10,610,958 infected and 145,987 deaths since the pandemic began.
The British Parliament has already approved the reintroduction of the mandatory use of the mask in public transport and shops in England, in the context of a worsening of the pandemic situation in the European country and in view of the concerns raised by the omicron variant. The United Kingdom abolished the mandatory use of a mask, and the rest of the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, on July 19.
The high numbers of COVID-19 infections that the British health authorities have verified in a sustained manner in recent weeks led experts to request that the Government introduce restrictive measures to stop the spread of the disease.
The British Government has trusted the development of the pandemic in the country and the lifting of restrictions to contain its advance to the vaccination plan against COVID-19. As of this Wednesday, 81.1 percent of the British population has the complete vaccination scheme.
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