The Scottish government ordered Thursday, December 23 the closure of nightclubs from Monday to stem the surge in contamination due to the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in the United Kingdom.
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This measure will apply to around 150 nightclubs, which can remain open for table service if they wish, and will be reviewed after three weeks, the government said in a statement. He had previously announced restrictions on gatherings starting next week and canceled New Year’s festivities.
Faced with a spectacular resurgence of Covid-19 cases, the United Kingdom (more than 147,000 dead) on Wednesday exceeded the threshold of 100,000 cases recorded in 24 hours for the first time since the start of the pandemic. The number of hospitalizations begins to increase, especially in London. Each nation in the country is responsible for health matters. So far, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland have announced tougher restrictions.
“Encouraging” studies
For England, Boris Johnson’s government is procrastinating, relying in particular on two studies published Wednesday showing a lower risk of hospitalization with the Omicron variant compared to the dominant Delta until recently. Professor Neil Ferguson of Imperial College, who conducted one of the studies, warned, however, that the lower risk was offset by lower efficacy of Omicron vaccines. Given the very high contagiousness and therefore the very large number of cases, this risks putting pressure on hospital services.
Judging these studies “encouraging“, The British Minister of Health Sajid Javid warned that there could thus be”a large number of hospitalizations“. He confirmed that the UK government has no plans to announce restrictions until Christmas. “Despite the precautions we all take, people should enjoy Christmas with their families and friends“, He declared on televisions.
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The government is however relying on a vast vaccination booster campaign carried out at an unprecedented rate. For the moment, he has only reinstated the mask indoors, recommended teleworking and introduced a health pass for major events and nightclubs.
Faced with the huge number of positive cases disrupting the functioning of hospitals, leading to train cancellations or the closure of restaurants and theaters, he reduced the period of isolation for those infected from 10 to 7 days, provided they tested negative.