Ministers in the UK are pushing on with a major easing of restrictions on Monday despite concerns over the Indian variant of coronavirus, of which cases are rising in the UK. Public Health England data showed a rise in cases of the Indian variant from 520 to 1,313 this week. Health minister Edward Argar said on Saturday that the Government was acting “coolly” and “calmly” in carrying on with step three in the roadmap to ending lockdown restrictions. “With key segments of the population still not vaccinated and clusters of variants, including the rapidly increasing Indian variant, becoming a growing concern, we must approach this next stage of easing lockdown with the utmost caution,” he said. Meanwhile, the deputy chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation said vaccines are “almost certainly less effective” at reducing transmission of the Indian variant.

Source: The Irish Times May 15, 2021 11:14 UTC