Facing rising COVID cases, UK government resists calls for new restrictions ahead
ABC News
Doctors and scientists have called for the U.K. government to reintroduce COVID restrictions ahead of bleak forecasts this winter.
LONDON -- Flanked by public health officials, the U.K. Health Secretary painted a bleak picture of the current state of the pandemic in Britain.
"Cases are rising," Sajid Javid, told the nation this week. "And they could go yet as high as 100,000 a day. We're also seeing greater pressure on the NHS (National Health Service) across the U.K. We're now approaching 1,000 hospitalizations per day."
Yet, despite growing calls from doctors' associations and scientists across the U.K. -- Javid resisted calls to introduce mandated prevention measures, such as mask wearing, which were dropped in England in July.
On Friday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson doubled down on that message, stressing the way forward was for as many eligible people as possible to take booster jabs, a rollout that experts warned is lagging behind demand.
