The British government today defended itself on whether it was too late to act to tighten restrictions on travelers from India, in the face of the alarming rise of the Indian variant in India. Britain, due to which there is a possibility to disrupt the continuation of the lifting of quarantine.
On April 19, the British government decided to include India in the list of “red countries” whose travelers are barred from entering the country, except for residents who were required to enter a ten-day quarantine at a hotel. The measure has been in place since early April in Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The announcement was made on the day Prime Minister Boris Johnson canceled his official visit to India, the first major official trip abroad, due to the worsening pandemic in that country.
Health Minister Matt Hancock today denied that the decision to include India in the list of “red countries” had been postponed due to the British leader’s trip.
“We are making these decisions based on the evidence,” he told Sky News. He confirmed that India had been included in the list of “red countries” before the Indian variant was defined as “worrying” and because of the “high positivity rate” of travelers coming from this country.
The British prime minister warned on Friday that the Indian variant was in danger of disrupting the lifting of almost all restrictions in England, scheduled for June 21, if it continued to spread, following a worrying rise in north-west England and London.
Despite the scientists’ calls for caution, he assessed, however, that there was no reason to postpone the relaxation planned for tomorrow, with the opening of indoor spaces in pubs and restaurants, the reopening of cultural venues and stadiums with limited capacity, and the resumption of trips abroad.
The scientific committee advising the government estimates that there is a “realistic possibility” that the variant will be up to 50% more contagious compared to the one that appeared in late 2020 in the south east of England.
If it proves to be 40-50% more contagious, loosening restrictions on Monday could “lead to a significant resurgence of hospitalizations”, which would be “similar or more important than previous peaks” when health services reached their limits. collapse, the commission warns.
The number of cases attributed to the Indian variant in Britain rose from 520 last week to 1,313 this week, according to the health ministry.
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