The Cabinet is due to meet on Tuesday 4 or Wednesday 5 January, with Health Secretary Sajid Javid likely to make a Commons statement on Wednesday announcing the result of the Plan B review. “Of course, we keep the data under review, but we’ve seen significant behaviour change as a result of Plan B.” While hospitalisations have risen rapidly, officials have been surprised that the number of people who are so ill they require ventilation has barely increased at all.Īsked whether tougher rules were needed, Cabinet Office minister Steve Barclay told Sky News: “We don’t think the data supports that at the moment.

The delay to any further measures appears likely because of uncertainty over how hospitals are coping with the current wave. Instead, it is looking increasingly probable that Plan B will remain in its current form.Ī source told i that changes are currently unlikely, adding: “We are cautiously optimistic for now, but things could change in a single day.” However, the removal of compulsory face mask rules and easing of requirements around the NHS Covid Pass would require extremely positive data to emerge, and appears similarly unlikely. The Times also reported previously that weddings and funerals would be exempt under any new rules.Īt the other end of the spectrum from lockdown is the possibility that Plan B restrictions will be eased when they are reviewed in the first week of January. The Government has promised that schools would be the last sector to close, so even under stringent lockdown measures it is highly unlikely that children’s education settings would be shut. 'It just makes common sense in a community where the virus is spreading, and that's pretty much all of Florida right now, to do everything you can to prevent that, which includes mask wearing for kids in schools,' Collins said.England’s Plan B restrictions are set for review in the first week of January (Photo: Reuters) However, Governor Ron DeSantis has blocked mask mandates in the state's schools, saying parents should decide. 'That's what desperately needs to happen if we're going to get this Delta variant put back in its place, because right now it's having a pretty big party in the middle of the country.'įlorida has one of the worst outbreaks in the nation, based on new cases per capita and has seen infections rise 50% week-over-week. 'The silver lining of this is that people are waking up to this and this may be a tipping point for those who have been hesitant,' National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins told CNN on Sunday. 'We have 100 million people in this country who are eligible to be vaccinated who are not getting vaccinated,' said Fauci, who is also director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious DiseasesĪbout 58% of Americans have received at least one dose of vaccine, ranging from a high of 76% in Vermont to a low of 40% in Mississippi.Īfter declining for weeks, the number of Americans getting vaccinated has started to rise again. While vaccines remain scarce in much of the world, they are freely available to anyone 12 years or older in the United States, where cash prizes, new cars and other incentives have failed to motivate more than a third of the population to get immunized. In France, where the government is fighting a fourth wave of infections, thousands of people protested for a third consecutive weekend against the introduction of a mandatory health pass proving vaccination that will be required for entry to many public venues. From Monday, unarmed soldiers will help police Australia's biggest city Sydney, checking that people who have tested positive are isolating. Some are pushing back against new restrictions.

Parts of Asia that were previously relatively successful in containing COVID-19, such as the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, are now locking down hot spots. The surge in Delta variant cases is also rattling the globe. Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari told CBS' 'Face the Nation' that the Delta variant was 'creating a bunch of caution' among millions of out-of-work Americans and could slow the U.S.

The average number of new coronavirus cases reported nationwide has nearly doubled in the past 10 days, according to a Reuters analysis.Įven if states do not resort to lockdowns again, the spread of the Delta variant could still threaten the economy. 'Not enough to crush the outbreak, but I believe enough to not allow us to get into the situation we were in last winter,' he said. Anthony Fauci said on Sunday.Ī sufficient percentage of Americans have now been vaccinated to avoid lockdowns, Fauci said on ABC's 'This Week'. WASHINGTON, Aug 1 (Reuters) - The United States will not lock down again to curb COVID-19 but 'things are going to get worse' as the Delta variant fuels a surge in cases, mostly among the unvaccinated, top U.S.

Could there be a second lockdown