As various European countries tighten up or even shutter down to prevent a surge in coronavirus infections, the bars in Vienna are closed and the Christmas market in Munich is deserted.
Meanwhile, in London, couples sip mulled wine at a seasonal market near the River Thames, audiences at the neighboring National Theatre fill to capacity, and pals gather over beers in bars all throughout the city.
For the second time during the epidemic, Britain is falling behind many of its neighbors. This time, though, it’s nice to be different.
The United Kingdom has been subjected to three statewide lockdowns and has seen approximately 145,000 people die as a result of the coronavirus, the second greatest toll in Europe behind Russia.
It is now observing as hospitals in countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic deal with rising cases, resulting in lockdowns and limitations. While Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned that a “blizzard from the east” might still disrupt Christmas in the United Kingdom, many experts believe the wind is currently flowing in the opposite direction.
“In this wave, we are not lagging behind Europe.” “They’re on our side,” said Paul Hunter, a medical professor at the University of East Anglia.
The virus’s highly transmissible delta strain, which is now sweeping continental Europe, reached Britain in the summer, just as the government was removing all last legislative constraints on the economy and daily life.
Because Britain caught delta in the summer, when respiratory viruses are less easily transmitted, “it wasn’t as explosive as we would expect it to be in the winter, and as we’re now seeing in some European countries,” said Mark Woolhouse, an infectious disease modeling professor at the University of Edinburgh.
“I believe the United Kingdom received its delta wave at an opportune period, whereas Austria, for example, is the polar opposite,” he remarked. Austria has gone into lockdown, with officials planning to impose vaccines on Feb. 1 after average daily mortality nearly quadrupled in the last two weeks.
According to the Globe Health Organization, Europe is the only region of the world where coronavirus cases are increasing, and the continent might witness another 700,000 fatalities by the spring unless immediate action is done.
However, the United Kingdom stands apart.
Many experts expected that following July 19, nicknamed “Freedom Day” by the media, when practically all restrictions were abolished, the country would experience an increase in cases. It was not to be.
Infection rates, which were among the highest in Europe at the time, fluctuated but never reached the heights predicted, but they remain persistently high. More than 40,000 new cases are being reported every day in the United Kingdom, a number last seen during the previous winter’s outbreak. However, because of a high immunization rate, especially among the elderly, hospitalizations and mortality are significantly fewer than in prior rounds. Despite this, 130 individuals perished per day in the last week after testing positive for COVID-19.
Although hospitals in the United Kingdom have not been overburdened with COVID-19 patients, they are highly busy as the health system tries to clear a massive backlog that accumulated during the epidemic. So far, Johnson’s Conservative administration has avoided having to use its “Plan B,” which would revive mask mandates and work-from-home orders to relieve pressure on the health-care system.
That might change in the future. The pandemic’s ability to throw nasty surprises into the mix was emphasized Friday when Britain barred flights from South Africa and many other nations due to a new variety that experts have labeled a worry due to its high number of mutations and quick spread.
For the time being, life in the United Kingdom might appear exceptionally normal — even cheerful, as many people look forward to the Christmas season with fresh zeal. But it’s a new normal, one that’s more confined.
Visitors from countries where prohibitions are still in place may be surprised by Britain’s voluntary, flexible attitude to mask usage and social isolation. However, according to Ivo Vlaev, a behavioral scientist at the University of Warwick who has researched data from around Europe, individuals in the United Kingdom have mainly adhered to protective measures, such as restricting their interactions with others, even after they were no longer needed by law. According to movement data, Britons are still traveling and mixing less than they were before the outbreak.
“It appears that individuals in the United Kingdom are more compliant in general across all health-protective activities” than in other European countries, according to Vaev.
Part of the reason, he claims, is “fear — we’re genuinely very reluctant to go out and do the ordinary stuff” in the aftermath of Britain’s devastating epidemic.
While other European governments are using coercion to increase vaccination rates, the United Kingdom is sticking to persuasion. Vaccination evidence is not frequently required at events or workplaces in the United Kingdom, and the government has ruled out forcing vaccines for everyone, however health and social care employees are required to obtain doses.
In comparison to many other nations, Britain has shown less vaccination resistance, with roughly 88 percent of those aged 12 and up receiving at least one dose. However, only approximately 68 percent of the population is completely vaccinated, a lower rate than in several other European countries, mainly because the UK was longer than many of its neighbors to give immunizations to youngsters aged 12 to 15, and vaccines for younger children have yet to be authorized.
The government is focusing on providing booster doses to people who are most vulnerable to serious disease, with a third injection available six months after the second for those aged 40 and older.
“Get your booster as soon as possible,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated this week. “Because it is only via vaccination that we have been able to return your employees to work, to reopen our theaters and restaurants, and to return to anything resembling normal life for longer than any comparative country.”
Some public health experts and opposition lawmakers believe the government is overly reliant on immunization to combat the illness. They want forced masks, social separation, and other measures reinstated.
Some epidemiologists, on the other hand, are cautiously hopeful that enough is being done to keep the virus under control during the winter. Hunter, perhaps paradoxically, claims that the UK’s high coronavirus toll puts it in a better position than the nations where the virus is now spreading.
“They have people who aren’t as highly inoculated as we are, whether it’s via vaccines or illness,” he added. “We still have a lot more natural infection immunity than most European countries, and the booster is being rolled out.” That’s why we’ll have a less difficult winter than most.”
