LONDON: New restrictions in England to slow the spread of COVID-19 will only be introduced as a last resort, health minister Sajid Javid said, stressing that although hospitalisations were rising, the number of patients in intensive care was stable.
Britain has not brought in new rules for England, which accounts for more than 80 per cent of the UK population. "Curbs on our freedom must be an absolute last resort," Javid wrote in an article published in Saturday's Daily Mail newspaper."We must give ourselves the best chance of living alongside the virus and avoiding strict measures in the future."Javid had said on Dec 27 that no new restrictions would be imposed in England before the end of 2021. His article suggested none were imminent in 2022 either.
"Numbers in intensive care units are stable and not currently following the trajectory we saw this time last year during the Alpha wave," he wrote.