COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom

By Panagiotis Arkoumaneas*

Greece is welcoming July with the best epidemiological statistics of the last months.

There is a substantial decline in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, of intubated patients, of hospital admissions, and of deaths.

This decline did not occur by chance. It is the product of our collective, strenuous, and coordinated effort and care.

British health minister Matt Hancock quit on June 26 after he was caught breaking COVID-19 rules by kissing and embracing an aide in his office, enraging colleagues and the public who have been living under lockdown.   

Vietnam has discovered a new COVID-19 variant which spreads quickly by air and is a combination of the Indian and British strains, health officials confirmed on May 29.

The country is struggling to deal with fresh outbreaks across more than half of its territory, including industrial zones and big cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

France on Wednesday declared a mandatory quarantine period for people coming from Britain due to the increasing prevalence there of a highly contagious coronavirus variant first detected in India, news wires reported.

Most of the U.K. takes a major step towards normality on Monday as coronavirus restrictions are eased, despite concerns over the spread of a more transmissible variant of the disease.

Across England, Wales and most of Scotland, indoor hospitality in pubs, restaurants and cafés returns and cinemas, museums and sports venues are to open their doors for the first time in months.

Britain is keeping a close eye on the Indian variant of COVID-19 but measures such as enhanced tracking and tracing, travel restrictions and the roll out of the vaccine should keep it at very low levels, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Tuesday.

 British PM Boris Johnson said on Monday his government was hopeful that non-essential international travel would restart from 17 May, following the unveiling of a new traffic light system, news wires reported.

Ljubljana – The Trade Union of Hospitality and Tourism has made another stern appeal to the government to help the sector during the epidemic, including by a reasonable easing of coronavirus restrictions across the country, by increasing subsides for furloughed workers and expanding the use of tourist vouchers beyond accommodation facilities.

Turkey's Health Ministry has urged the utmost vigilance in all provinces amid a spike in COVID-19 variant-related infections, announcing a raft of measures to combat the spread of the disease.

The chief medical officers of the United Kingdom lowered their Covid-19 alert level on Thursday, citing a gradual reduction in pressure on the health service, news wires reported.