Britons were today warned the coming months will be ‘challenging’ as coronavirus cases show no sign of slowing down.

Downing Street insisted it did not have any immediate plans to bring back restrictions but admitted it would keep a ‘close watch’ on the situation.

The UK is currently recording around 43,000 new Covid cases every day on average, with levels of infection now almost on par with the worst of the second peak in January. 

Hospitalisations and deaths remain much lower but there are concerns even a small rise could push the NHS to the brink this winter when it tries to juggle high levels of flu and usual seasonal pressures.

There are also fears that uptake of Covid booster jabs may be too slow to prevent a hospital surge this winter, with only half of eligible over-80s having receiving a third dose since the programme launched a month ago.

Professor Andrew Hayward, an epidemiologist and key Government adviser, argued the situation was ‘concerning’ and there was ‘huge potential for the NHS to come under a lot of pressure’. 

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman claimed No10 was not considering rolling back compulsory face masks or introducing vaccine passports as part of the Covid winter ‘Plan B’ just yet. 

They added: ‘We obviously keep very close watch on the latest statistics. We always knew the coming months would be challenging. What we are seeing is case rates, hospitalisations and deaths still broadly in line with the modelling as set out a few months back now.

Yesterday the UK reported 45,140 cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of infections to 8,449.165

Yesterday the UK reported 45,140 cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of infections to 8,449.165

Yesterday the UK reported 45,140 cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of infections to 8,449.165

The number of Covid deaths in the UK yesterday was 57, down 61 per cent on last Sunday

The number of Covid deaths in the UK yesterday was 57, down 61 per cent on last Sunday

The number of Covid deaths in the UK yesterday was 57, down 61 per cent on last Sunday

‘The vaccination programme will continue to be our first line of defence, along with new treatments, testing and public health advice. But we will obviously keep a close watch on cases.

‘But it is thanks to our vaccination programme that we are able to substantially break the link between cases, hospitalisations and deaths.’

The spokesman said the success of the vaccines meant ‘we are able to be one of the most open economies in Europe, which is benefiting the public and indeed businesses as well’.

Natural immunity IS just as good as being jabbed, official figures show 

Recovering from Covid offers just as good protection as getting two doses of any vaccine, official figures suggest. 

An Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) report published today found unvaccinated Britons who catch the Delta variant are around 71 per cent less likely to test positive for a second time.

It estimated the risk of infection is slashed by approximately 67 per cent in people given two doses of Pfizer or AstraZeneca‘s jabs.

The ONS said there was ‘no evidence’ vaccines offered more immunity than catching Covid itself, despite a number of other studies showing the opposite. 

The findings are based on more than 8,000 positive tests across Britain between May and August, when the Delta variant became dominant.  

Scientists are still trying to untangle exactly how long naturally-acquired and vaccine immunity lasts.

Protection from the jabs appears to dip at around five months, which is why Britons over the age of 50 are being offered booster doses this autumn. 

But the duration of natural immunity remains somewhat of a mystery, made more complicated by the rise of new variants.

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Professor Hayward, a member of SAGE, told BBC Radio 4’s World At One today: ‘I think it’s concerning that we’ve got very high rates of infection and higher rates of hospitalisation and mortality than many of our European counterparts.’

He said waning immunity is ‘probably part of’ the reason infections are currently high, adding there is ‘some evidence’ protection against infection is beginning to wear off and ‘probably some evidence’ protection against severe disease is waning to a lesser extent.

Professor Hayward added: ‘We shouldn’t be complacent because there is still huge potential for the NHS to come under a lot of pressure and for there to be a lot of unnecessary deaths.

‘So we need to get the vaccination rates up and we need to be prepared potentially to think about other measures if things do get out of control.’

Downing Street said ‘different countries are potentially at different stages of their vaccination programmes and have different measures in place so it’s difficult to compare and contrast’.

The Prime Minister’s spokesman added: ‘What’s important is we strike the right balance between protecting lives and livelihoods.’

The UK led the way on vaccinations during the initial rollout which means Britons have been vaccinated longer than Europeans.

Studies have shown that protection from the jabs start to noticeably wane after five months, which is why the UK began offering all over-50s a booster jab last month.

But experts have warned the uptake of Covid boosters may be too slow to prevent hospitals from becoming overcrowded this winter.

One month into the booster programme, only half of eligible over-80s have received a third dose, despite being at heightened risk, NHS figures suggest. 

Of the 2.2million who had a second jab more than six months ago, fewer than 1.2million have had the booster. 

There are fears Britain could start to see a rise in hospital admissions, as happened in Israel earlier this year, if boosters aren’t distributed more quickly.

The number of people aged 65 to 84 admitted to hospital has risen 19 per cent in the past week, with admissions up 8 per cent among people over 85. 

Yesterday the UK reported a 30 per cent weekly increase of coronavirus cases to 45,140 within 28 days of a positive test – the highest total since July.

Mass Covid testing in schools is sparking ‘unnecessary chaos’ and should be brought to an end, senior doctor says 

Mass Covid testing in schools is sparking ‘unnecessary chaos’ and should be brought to an end, a senior doctor has said.

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health’s president, Dr Camilla Kingdon, also warned children should not be left to ‘carry the burden’ of the pandemic.

Schools in England dropped virtually all virus-control measures in July, except twice weekly testing of pupils. Those who get a positive swab must stay home for 10 days.

But amid rising infection rates among youngsters, some schools are quietly reintroducing measures including face masks and telling children to stay home if their sibling has the virus.

It comes as the NHS plans to unveil walk-in vaccine clinics for school children within weeks in an effort to speed up the jabs rollout.

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Meanwhile, official UK figures suggest that recovering from Covid offers just as good protection as getting two doses of any vaccine.

An Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) report published today found unvaccinated Britons who catch the Delta variant are around 71 per cent less likely to test positive for a second time.

It estimated the risk of infection is slashed by approximately 67 per cent in people given two doses of Pfizer or AstraZeneca‘s jabs.

The ONS said there was ‘no evidence’ vaccines offered more immunity than catching Covid itself, despite a number of other studies showing the opposite. 

The findings are based on more than 8,000 positive tests across Britain between May and August, when the Delta variant became dominant.  

Scientists are still trying to untangle exactly how long naturally-acquired and vaccine immunity lasts.

Protection from the jabs appears to dip at around five months, which is why Britons over the age of 50 are being offered booster doses this autumn. 

But the duration of natural immunity remains somewhat of a mystery, made more complicated by the rise of new variants.

The ONS looked at 8,306 positive PCR results between May 17 and August 14.

Samples were collected from unvaccinated, fully vaccinated and double-jabbed volunteers, some who had previously had the virus already.

Using a statistical analysis, the report found those who were double-jabbed had a reduced the risk of testing positive by between 64 and 70 per cent, giving the headline figure of 67 per cent.

In people who were unvaccinated but previously positive, the risk was cut by between 65 per cent to 77 per cent. 

The overlap in confidence intervals meant that there was no statistical difference between the results.

Writing in the report, the ONS said: ‘There was no evidence that the reduction in risk of infection from two vaccine doses differed from that of previous natural infection.’   

Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk