UK overturns loosening of COVID-19 restrictions, points to uptick in cases
“This is not just increased testing, this is a real phenomenon,” said Chris Whitty, England’s Chief Medical Officer. He added that while hospitalization rates and death totals have remained low, that could change if the infection spreads from younger age groups to older people.
Mr. Johnson has been criticized for being too slow to react to the pandemic when it hit the country last March and too eager to reopen the economy this summer. The government’s testing program has also been called into question because of insufficient laboratory capacity, which has forced some people to drive hundreds of kilometres to get tested. And the rules surrounding physical distancing have been vague and largely ignored.
Mr. Johnson has also put faith in a novel testing program that he hopes will soon make it possible for anyone to take a pregnancy-style COVID-19 test and get the results back within minutes. “We’re hoping the 'moonshot’ approach Mr. Johnson is also hoping that a vaccine can be found and Britain has invested heavily in a drug that’s being developed by researchers at Oxford University and AstraZeneca PLC. It’s considered to be the most promising of the 200 vaccine projects around the world, but advanced trials had to be halted this week after one volunteer became sick. Researchers are trying to find out the cause of the illness and they expect to resume testing soon.
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