BORIS Johnson has been condemned for failing to prevent the importation of the Delta variant from India as the mutation torpedoes plans to end lockdown across the UK.
A leading health expert said the UK Government should have put travel restrictions in place “much quicker” as he lamented the consequences for Scotland.
Professor Aziz Sheikh, director of Edinburgh University’s Usher Institute, has just published a study that shows the new variant, which accounts for three in four Covid cases in Scotland, is twice as likely to result in hospitalisation.
Carried out by researchers from Edinburgh and Strathclyde universities, as well as Public Health Scotland, the paper found the Delta variant had an 85% increased risk of hospitalisation compared to the Alpha (Kent) variant, after adjusting for age, underlying health conditions and other factors. However, the average length of hospital stay is currently shorter than it was during previous waves of the virus.
READ MORE: Scotland's lockdown easing could be delayed by weeks, Jason Leitch warns
Hospital cases were measured as people admitted to hospital within 14 days of a positive PCR test, or who tested positive within two days of admission.
The findings were released as national clinical director Jason Leitch warned the Indian variant was a “game changer” which could set plans to ease lockdown back by weeks.
Speaking to BBC Good Morning Scotland today, Sheikh condemned the UK Government’s failure to clamp down on travel from India.
Assessing the situation in Scotland, he said: “Overall the vaccine programme is working. Clearly we’re already seeing reductions in hospitalisations. The Delta variant has made things a bit more complicated but I’m confident that we can press on at pace, then hopefully we should be able to ease the restrictions.”
He added that he was supportive of Johnson’s decision to push back so-called “Freedom Day” in England, when all restrictions were due to be lifted. The Prime Minister announced yesterday the date would be pushed back by up to four weeks.
However, asked about Downing Street’s management of the Delta variant, Sheikh said: “Variants are likely to emerge but where there are concerns being raised, as in the case of India, then I think we should have acted much quicker. There have been numerous flights that came in and I think that’s driven transmission.
“We need to keep an eye on this with our international partners and where there are concerns we need to act much quicker than we’ve done typically. That is a challenge in Scotland because international travel is a reserved issue, so it’s a UK issue rather than something the Scottish Government has direct control over.”
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon to give lockdown update in major Covid announcement
Nicola Sturgeon is setting out her government’s plans for easing lockdown in a speech to parliament today.
The First Minister is expected to announce delays to the unlocking date amid concerns about the dominant Delta variant.
Scientists have stressed that although the new highly transmissible variant poses severe public health challenges, vaccines are effective at preventing most cases.
Leitch explained: “Everything still works – distancing, ventilation, handwashing all still works – but what’s new about the Delta variant, and this is horrid, and we’ve learned it increasingly over the last few weeks, is the second dose is required for decent protection.
“You get about 30% protection from one dose, you get 80-85% from two … we vaccinated about half the country’s adults twice, now we need to get that up.”
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