ISLAMABAD: Third wave of coronavirus has emerged in the United Kingdom in last couple of days, ahead of UK’s deadline to end lockdown from July 19, 2021. On July 3, 2021, UK has reported more than 25,000 new coronavirus cases as against just 5,000 per day during mid-June.
Keeping in view low COVID cases in UK in June, last week British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other UK officials have announced lifting of lockdown from July 19, 2021. However, four-fold increase in new cases of coronavirus may further delay lifting of lockdown in the United Kingdom.
Coronavirus cases have roughly doubled in the space of a week, though numbers remain low compared with earlier in the pandemic. So how significant is this, as the government considers lifting the last set of restrictions in England in July 2021?
It’s difficult to judge what direction the virus is going in from just a few days of data – cases fluctuate and can be skewed by how many tests are being done. But, for the past fortnight at least, there have been growing signs national cases are beginning to rise. And this relatively small uptick disguises much larger spikes in cases – and some rises in hospital admissions – in certain areas. These include the north-west of England and also large parts of Scotland, although in some of these areas cases are starting to fall again.
Meanwhile, Indonesia is also in a grip of rapidly growing coronavirus across the country. Indonesian government has announced lifting of lockdown from July 2021, but recent surge Covid-19 cases has triggered third wave in the country. In June, average daily corona cases were below 5,000, but in last few days, number of daily cases has crossed 20,000, raising alarms in the country and abroad. Both, UK and Indonesia have observed penetration of Indian Delta Variant virus which has triggered third wave of the pandemic in these countries. UK and Indonesian authorities have expedited vaccination process to curb the pandemic and normalize situation, leading to lifting of over a yearlong lockdowns.
Till July 3, 2021, the United Kingdom has reported more than 128,000 corona-related casualties with total 4.86 million infection cases. Meanwhile, Indonesia has reported 2.23 million COVID cases, 59,534 casualties while 1.9 million people have recovered from the pandemic. Globally, 3.96 million people have lost their lives due to the pandemic while 183 million people contracted this virus.
