UK PM Boris Johnson announced last week that while hospitalization rates remained under control, there would be “no need” to enact tighter restrictions on daily life.
England: In Europe, Omicron has fueled the biggest surge in positive cases since the pandemic began.
Although hospitalization rates for Covid patients are increasing, they remain lower than in previous waves.
Consequently, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced last week that while hospitalization rates remained under control, there would be “no need” to enact tighter restrictions on daily life.
Instead, England recently reduced the period that persons with Covid-19 must self-isolate from 10 days to seven.
Still, over 1.2 million people tested positive in the United Kingdom during the week ending January 8, an 11% increase over the week before, and the number of Coronavirus deaths 1,271 was up 38% from the previous week.
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, on the other hand, became the first leader of a major European country to call on the European Union to debate treating Covid-19 as an endemic illness, like the flu.
Sánchez said in a radio interview, “The situation is not what we faced a year ago; I think we have to evaluate the evolution of Covid to an endemic illness from the pandemic we have faced up until now.”
Spain is among the world’s most vaccinated countries against COVID with 90.4% of the population over age 11 having been fully vaccinated, and 85.3% of those over 60 having received a booster shot.
The Italian government announced last week that all Italians 50 and older have to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
Prime Minister Mario Draghi said during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, “We want to slow down the growth of the contagion curve and push Italians who still aren’t vaccinated to do so. We are acting in particular on age groups that are most at risk of hospitalization, to reduce pressure on hospitals and save lives.”
Like Italy, France has adopted strict measures to force a hesitant population to be vaccinated.
However, the new French regulations, which are the strictest to date, came just a day after President Emmanuel Macron said he intended to “piss off” the 10% of adults in France who have refused Covid-19 vaccinations “to the end.”