男友太凶猛1v1高h,大地资源在线资源免费观看 ,人妻少妇精品视频二区,极度sm残忍bdsm变态

Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
World
Home / World / Europe

Britons less cautious about virus poll shows

By EARLE GALE in London | China Daily Global | Updated: 2022-03-18 09:31
Share
Share - WeChat
People walk past a direction sign for a COVID-19 vaccination centre, amidst the easing of lockdown restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic, in London, on March 10, 2022. [Photo/Agencies]

Change in attitude attributed to govt's scrapping of rules, weakening strains

Many Britons are no longer cautious about the novel coronavirus but seem to have taken the government's recent scrapping of all virus-related restrictions as a signal to return to their pre-pandemic lives, according to a new study.

Polling by YouGov and Imperial College London found United Kingdom residents are taking fewer precautions against catching the virus that causes COVID-19 than they have at any time during the pandemic, which began two years ago, despite the fact that infections and hospitalizations are skyrocketing.

Mike Tildesley, a member of the UK government's Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling, said: "We have seen a lot of the restrictions go, but more importantly a change in people's attitudes."

He told the Financial Times newspaper many people think the risk is very low, which is helping to drive up infections.

"If you see the virus as less of an imminent threat, you're more likely to mix with others and, in the short-term at least, that gives (the) Omicron(variant of the virus) a second wind."

The researchers found Britons were very cautious late last year, when the Omicron variant first appeared in the UK, with most people shunning social gatherings, public transport, and their offices.

That increased vigilance followed several months of steadily decreasing caution, as the previous wave of the pandemic eased. But the renewed caution suddenly ended earlier this year, and plummeted to an all-time low by the second week of March, after the government scrapped all legal restrictions on gatherings and behavior.

The pollsters found that while 63 percent of Britons avoided crowds earlier in the pandemic, only 31 percent are doing so now.

Nick Davies, an epidemiological modeler at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said people have become less cautious both because of the government's scrapping of the rules and also because strains circulating now are less dangerous.

But, despite strains being less deadly, hospitals in England had a 31 percent increase in COVID-19 patients during the past two weeks, with 14,078 virus beds taken on Tuesday.

The BBC said the 516,289 COVID-19 cases recorded in the UK during the week ending Wednesday was the most since early February, and 49 percent up on the week before.

Cases are also rising quickly in the European mainland, with the Netherlands recording a 48 percent jump during the past week and Germany registering a record-high incidence rate of 1,585.4 infections for every 100,000 people.

The United States is among nations closely watching the situation in Europe, with Anthony Fauci, director of its National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, telling CNN: "Without a doubt, opening up society and having people mingle indoors is clearly something that is a contributor, as well as overall waning immunity, which means we've really got to stay heads-up and keep our eye on the pattern here."

Most Viewed in 24 Hours
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 杭锦旗| 酒泉市| 西丰县| 长治市| 大埔区| 乌恰县| 醴陵市| 乌鲁木齐县| 砚山县| 随州市| 怀安县| 静海县| 剑川县| 楚雄市| 柳林县| 嵊泗县| 南华县| 乐安县| 呼和浩特市| 濮阳市| 石门县| 山西省| 乌拉特中旗| 砀山县| 邯郸县| 黄陵县| 许昌市| 渭源县| 张北县| 永新县| 牙克石市| 都兰县| 安顺市| 南昌县| 扶绥县| 深州市| 隆德县| 黔西| 庆安县| 莱芜市| 那曲县|