LONDON: The UK recorded more than 50,000 new coronavirus cases in one day Friday for the first time in six months.
Meanwhile, the British government’s top medical adviser warned that the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 could hit “quite scary” levels within weeks.
Government figures showed another 51,870 confirmed lab cases, the highest number since mid-January. Infections have surged in recent weeks, mainly among unvaccinated younger people, as a result of the far more contagious delta variant and the easing of lockdown restrictions.
Despite the increase, the British government plans to lift all remaining legal restrictions on social contact in England on Monday and to ditch social distancing guidelines, as well as the legal requirement for people to wear masks in most indoor settings, including shops, trains, buses and subways.
The government is hoping that the rapid rollout of vaccines will keep a lid on the number of people becoming seriously ill with COVID-19 — a stance that some leading scientists at an emergency international summit critiqued as “reckless.”
The group, which includes advisers to the governments of Italy, New Zealand and Taiwan, said they joined forces through a “sense of urgency” to warn of the global consequences of allowing the delta variant to spread rapidly through the British population.
The scientists warned that the combination of high infections and high levels of vaccination “create the conditions in which an immune escape variant is most likely to emerge.”
One of the co-signatories to Friday’s statement, Dr. William A. Haseltine of the New York-based think tank Access Health International, went further, describing the strategy as “murderous” and “unconscionable.”
Families representing many of those who have died from COVID-19 in the UK also joined in the criticism of the plan devised by Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government.
“The overwhelming scientific consensus is that lifting restrictions on Monday will be disastrous, and bereaved families know firsthand how tragic the consequences of unlocking too early can be,” said Jo Goodman, co-founder of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice. “There is a real fear that once again the government’s thinking is being driven by what’s popular rather than the interests of the country.”
Other parts of the UK — Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — are taking more cautious steps out of lockdown.
So far, the number of people in UK hospitals with virus-related illnesses and subsequently dying remains relatively low, certainly when compared with the peak of the second wave of the pandemic earlier this year.
But with the government putting the country on notice that daily infections could rise to over 100,000 this summer, concerns are clearly growing. Johnson has sought to rein in any euphoria around Monday’s lifting of restrictions, an occasion tagged “Freedom Day” on social media.
Johnson is urging people to remain vigilant when meeting with others and to carry on wearing masks in enclosed or crowded places.
His chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, told a webinar hosted by London’s Science Museum late Thursday that the UK is “not out of the woods yet.”
“I don’t think we should underestimate the fact that we could get into trouble again surprisingly fast,” Whitty said.
More cases will inevitably lead to more people requiring hospital attention even though the vaccine rollout has helped build a wall of immunity around those deemed the most vulnerable. More than two-thirds of British adults have received both doses of a vaccine, and almost 88 percent have had one dose.
Friday’s government data showed 3,964 people hospitalized with COVID-19, the most since late March. Though the number has gone up steadily in recent weeks, it remains far lower than in January, when British hospitals had around 40,000 COVID-19 patients.
Alongside the increase in hospitalizations, daily virus-related deaths have risen to levels not seen since March. Another 49 virus-related deaths were recorded Friday, taking the UK’s total to 128,642, the seventh-highest in the world.
Whitty warned that the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients is doubling about every three weeks and could reach “quite scary numbers” if the current trend continues.
“We are not by any means out of the woods yet on this. We are in much better shape due to the vaccine program, and drugs and a variety of other things,” he said.
“But this has got a long way to run in the UK, and it’s got even further to run globally,” he added.
UK daily infections top 50,000 days before virus rules eased
https://arab.news/j9x6d
UK daily infections top 50,000 days before virus rules eased
- Government figures showed another 51,870 confirmed lab cases, the highest number since mid-January
- Government hopes the rapid rollout of vaccines will keep a lid on the number of people becoming seriously ill
Congressional candidates slam AIPAC influence in US elections
- Democrats Joseph Ruzevich, Kina Collins, Bushra Amiwala say pro-Israel lobby group interfering in their races
- They represent districts with large and growing Arab and Muslim constituencies
CHICAGO: Candidates in three Illinois congressional districts denounced the American Israel Public Affairs Committee at a press conference attended by Arab News on Thursday.
Democrats Joseph Ruzevich in the 6th District, Kina Collins in the 7th District and Bushra Amiwala in the 9th District accused the powerful lobby group of corrupting US elections and interfering in their races.
The three candidates, all running in the March 17 Democratic primary, represent districts with large and growing Arab and Muslim constituencies.
They said AIPAC pours millions of dollars into election campaigns to defeat candidates who criticize Israel.
“AIPAC and PACs like it do only one thing, fund negative attack ads on candidates and opponents,” said Ruzevich, whose district in the western suburbs of Chicago represents one of the largest concentrations of Arab voters in the country.
“We’d like to educate voters and candidates, offer solutions, and implore current elected officials running for reelection, and current candidates, to reject this money,” he added.
“This money is suffocating the voice of the voters. All three of us are Democrats here. It’s no longer enough to vote blue no matter who. We must make sure that we’re electing candidates who are loyal only to the people of their district.”
Ruzevich said: “AIPAC money undermines the voting rights of Americans and empowers foreign interests over American interests.
“We urge Americans to only vote for candidates who don’t accept AIPAC donations to their election campaigns.”
He added: “Americans must remain sovereign in America, and AIPAC's influence over our elections threatens that sovereignty.”
Ruzevich accused the incumbent in the 6th District, Congressman Sean Casten, of ignoring the concerns of Arab Americans there.
Casten, elected to Congress in 2019, has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in AIPAC funds. He has not responded to repeated requests for comment from Arab News.
Collins said AIPAC spent more than $500,000 to prevent her from winning election to the 7th Congressional District seat two years ago, and made false accusations that distorted her policies “all because I criticized Israel.”
She added: “I’m not for sale and our community isn’t for lease … Let’s be clear about what that money is doing … It’s being used to silence any voice that dares to stand up for human rights, for peace, and for an independent foreign policy that prioritizes people over the weapons industry.”
AIPAC “money goes way deeper than this election,” she said. “This is about a democracy that’s fragile right now. And we have the opportunity to change it.”
Amiwala said AIPAC money undermines the public debate on local issues such as funding families in need, improving education, and holding the line on rising costs for groceries, insurance and healthcare, instead pushing officials to focus on the political and financial needs of Israel’s government.
“Instead of confronting that reality, we’re finding our political system allows powerful interests to … pour extraordinary sums of money to shape American elections and American policy in the service of a foreign government,” she added.
“When you challenge AIPAC they come after you, after your family and after your allies, so you have to decide what kind of leader you’re going to be. Are you here to serve the public or to protect your own position?
“Just yesterday, Congress approved another $3.3 billion in weapons funding for Israel. Shame. Shame.”
The influence of AIPAC money has become a major controversy in this election cycle, with even Republicans speaking out for the first time.
Niki Conforti, who is running in the Republican primary in the 6th District on March 17, last week publicly said she refuses to accept AIPAC money.
Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie is among 20 members of Congress who have denounced AIPAC’s influence over elections.
Former Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene said recently: “The truth is AIPAC doesn’t like it because I unapologetically represent American. AIPAC needs to register as a foreign lobbyist by US law because they’re representing the secular government of nuclear-armed Israel 100 percent.”
She added: “I believe that political donations from any foreign entity or organization can corrupt our politicians and undermine our democracy. We need to stop foreign entities from dictating our policies and influencing our elections.”
Illinois Democrat Anabel Mendoza, also running for Congress in the 7th District, last week urged voters at a press conference attended by Arab News to “vote against” candidates who accept AIPAC funds.
In the 2022 election cycle, AIPAC endorsed 365 candidates, donating $17.5 million to their campaigns.
A total of 349 out of the 535 members in the current Congress received AIPAC funds, according to data compiled from OpenSecrets.org and TrackAIPAC.com.
