Louis7 schreef op 8 februari 2021 13:22:
[...]
Boris Johnson must not lift lockdown until the UK's Test and Trace system has been bolstered so it can spot mutations within two or three days, the head of NHS Providers has said.
Chris Hopson has written to the Prime Minister asking him to commit to a series of tests ahead of easing restrictions including case numbers and infection spread, hospital admissions, vaccinations and new variants of the virus.
He told BBC Breakfast the UK should have a Canada-style "Test and Trace programme capable of finding those mutations... [having them] genomically sequenced in two or three days."
He added: "We've all worked incredibly hard over the last nine months as a nation - and over the last few months, last few weeks in terms of this immediate set of restrictions. What we mustn't do is rush to lift them, and then find the virus bounces straight back."
It comes amid growing concern that the Oxford University-AstraZeneca jab does not protect against mild and moderate infection of the South African variant.
Edward Argar, the health minister, this morning stressed that while "there maybe less efficacy in treating mild illness, there s nothing to suggest it is not highly effective against preventing hospitalisations and death". He also stressed the South African variant was rare in the UK, representing just 147 cases currently.