Health and Social Care Secretary's statement on coronavirus (COVID-19): 25 January 2021
Speech by Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock at the Downing Street coronavirus briefing.
Good afternoon and welcome back to Downing Street for today바카라 사이트s coronavirus briefing. I바카라 사이트m joined by our Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr Jenny Harries and Dr Susan Hopkins, who is the Chief Medical Advisor to Public Health England and NHS Test and Trace.
I want to update you on the latest coronavirus data 바카라 사이트 and the vaccine rollout. In the last week in the UK, we have seen 37,258 cases of coronavirus, on average each day. The NHS is still under intense pressure across all parts of the country with 37,899 people in UK hospitals with COVID-19 바카라 사이트 and that includes 4,076 on ventilators.
Sadly, today 592 more deaths were reported. We must never forget the real impact of this disease. The loved ones that we바카라 사이트ve lost. Grandparents. Parents. Friends. Colleagues. We grieve for each one. And the pressure on the front line, I can tell you, is just so relentless. And when I talk to my colleagues who are working in COVID wards.
They are flat out and they are stretched to the limit. They바카라 사이트re doing everything they can. And I want to say a huge thank you to all those colleagues who are working so hard 바카라 사이트 they are pulling a huge shift and it바카라 사이트s a duty on all of us to support them.
I want to extend that thanks also to our ambulance service workers and in particular I want to thank ambulance service staff who stepped up over the weekend when an appeal went out from the Scottish Ambulance Service for extra help and ambulance services from the other nations stepped forward.
Our health systems across the UK routinely work closely together 바카라 사이트 offering support when its needed. From vaccines to ambulance services, and the UK is stronger together in the fight against this pandemic.
I know how tough that fight is. Thankfully, there are early signs that the actions we바카라 사이트re taking are working. The rise in the number of cases is slowing 바카라 사이트 and falling in some parts of the country like London and Scotland. At the same time, the number of vaccinations is going up.
Like many of you, I바카라 사이트ve been talking to members of my family who바카라 사이트ve just had the call to be vaccinated. It바카라 사이트s a really emotional moment when people get vaccinated. It means so much to people because the vaccine brings safety to that individual and marks the route out for us all from this pandemic.
I바카라 사이트m so proud to be able to tell you that we have, as of last night, vaccinated 78.7% of all over 80s. That바카라 사이트s almost 4 in 5 of everyone aged over 80. I바카라 사이트m delighted 바카라 사이트 you can see from these figures 바카라 사이트 there바카라 사이트s so much enthusiasm for vaccination amongst the over 80s because octogenarians know what the scientists know: which is that the vaccines save lives.
Of course, the rate limiting factor to this vaccination programme remains supply. As we know, supply is tight. We바카라 사이트ve had a very strong performance in this past week. And I바카라 사이트m confident that the NHS will deliver every shot that바카라 사이트s made available to it. To help with that, today we opened a further 32 large-scale vaccination centres including at Blackpool Winter Gardens, the Black Country Living Museum 바카라 사이트 better known to many as the set of Peaky Blinders 바카라 사이트 and London바카라 사이트s Francis Crick Institute 바카라 사이트 itself no stranger to human ingenuity.
And I바카라 사이트m determined to get vaccine uptake as high as possible. Today we바카라 사이트re funding councils to enhance their vital efforts to engage those who are hardest to reach through our Community Champions scheme. As of today, 6.6 million have now received a vaccine against COVID-19. That바카라 사이트s more than 1 in 9 of the adult population.
On Saturday alone, we gave nearly half a million jabs. In the last week, 2.5 million people have been vaccinated across the UK. That바카라 사이트s a rate of more than 250 people a minute.
We바카라 사이트re on track to offer everyone in the top 4 priority groups a jab by the 15 February. If you바카라 사이트re in one of those groups, one of the top 4 priority groups, and you haven바카라 사이트t had the call yet, don바카라 사이트t worry: the NHS will be in touch.
It바카라 사이트s a truly national effort. Alongside the GPs, pharmacists and other NHS staff and of course Armed Forces working so hard 바카라 사이트 alongside all of them working every weekend every evening. I particularly want to thank the 80,000 people who stepped forward to help deliver this, doing things like volunteering to stand in car parks for 8 hours a day 바카라 사이트 in the freezing cold to ensure elderly people can safely get into a vaccination centre.
It바카라 사이트s truly heart-warming. We바카라 사이트ve seen this selfless attitude towards the vaccination programme and it makes me very proud and very grateful to all those who have stepped forward. Because we know the responsibility for our fightback against this disease rests with every one of us. That is equally true when it comes to following the rules and maintaining social distancing.
Social distancing works 바카라 사이트 by denying the virus the social contact it needs to spread. I want to reiterate an important point made by the Chief Medical Officers and the clinical advice that they have been giving: even if you바카라 사이트ve had the jab, the rules still apply.
There바카라 사이트s 2 reasons for this. First, because the protection takes time. Your body바카라 사이트s immune is only fully trained up around three weeks after your jab. And, even if you have protection yourself, we still don바카라 사이트t know whether you will be able to pass coronavirus on to someone else.
We are monitoring this very carefully and will publish information on it as soon as we have it available. So this is not a moment to ease up.
The success of our vaccine rollout means we cannot 바카라 사이트 cannot 바카라 사이트 put our progress at risk.
The final thing I want to say is this. There바카라 사이트s no question that the new variants have made this fight a whole lot tougher. And I want to set out again, precisely what we know about the new variants. As with all science 바카라 사이트 as we have throughout this unprecedented crisis 바카라 사이트 we are learning more all the time.
The new variant first discovered in Kent 바카라 사이트 which comprises now a significant number of our cases now 바카라 사이트 is spreading 30 to 70% more easily than the existing variant. Based on analysis conducted by academic colleagues in a variety of studies there is a realistic possibility that this variant may be associated with increased mortality compared to the old variant 바카라 사이트 as well as increased transmission.
Because of our extensive genomic sequencing, we have identified cases of the new variant first identified in South Africa and that one that was first identified in Brazil. Further scientific work is underway to understand more about these variants but in the meantime it reinforces the critical message that we must be cautious.
For all of us, our response must to be extra careful stay at home 바카라 사이트 maintain social distancing. We바카라 사이트ve all frankly sacrificed too much and its so important that we protect lives and we바카라 사이트re making progress with the vaccine.
With the end in sight we cannot put that progress at risk. And there바카라 사이트s a promise of better days that lie ahead we have to hold our nerve and persevere through this difficult winter. So it바카라 사이트s incumbent on us all, wherever possible to stay at home, protect the NHS, and save lives.