UK Today in Coronavirus
As the pandemic continues in the United Kingdom and the pressures on the NHS continue it has led to the inevitable effect of having more people than ever waiting for other treatment and operations, with such numbers waiting at record highs. There were 4.46 million people waiting to start hospital treatment in England at the end of November last year, beating the previous record of 4.42 million in November 2019. The number of people having to wait more than 52 weeks was also at its highest level since May 2008.
It has also been revealed that so far the area where the most first doses of the vaccine have been delievered are in the Midlands at over 447,000, while the lowest were in London and the East of England at 237-236k respectively. London Mayor Sadiq Khan expressed concern that London was not getting its fair share of vaccines.
Meanwhile a WHO team has finally been allowed to enter into China to the suspected origin area of the coronavirus, where they will be investigating how it originated, and exactly where. Up until now they had faced frustrating delays, but even though they are now in the country they could possibly still face further delays due to political reasons. One area of interest is an old mining cave in Yunnan province, where several workers fell ill, with three of them dying in 2012. The patients were examined by the Wuhan Institute of Virology and found a strain of SARS-related coronavirus that was labelled RaTG13, which shares 96.2% genetic identity with SARS-CoV2, the virus that causes COVID19, making it the closest known relative of the disease. The WHO investigators though have been blocked from investigating the area due to COVID regulations, and have since been put into a 2-week quarantine.
China has suggested that the virus could have actually originated from elsewhere than its country, with one suggestion being that it was brought over by US soldiers visiting Wuhan. There is some evidence that it is potentially possible that COVID19 didn’t originate in China, such as samples from Italian patients as far back as September 2019. Of course this does not rule out it didn’t originate in China, it could simply mean it did originate in China much earlier than thought. More research and investigation is needed and it will probably be a long while before a full determination is made, and whether everyone will except this determination or not, either due to political or other skeptical reasons, is another question.
Meanwhile the county of Cornwall has seen an 120% rise in coronavirus cases since the New Year which it has largely blamed on remaining in Tier-1 lockdown status prior to Christmas, as well as the new more contagious variant. The county only has one major hospital and so it is more vulnerable to being overwhelmed by cases. Some areas of the county have seen especially dire rises in cases, including Newquay, with case rates there being as high as in some places within London.
Latest BREXIT Impacts
Exporters have continued to face costly delays due to problems with new paperwork required at the UK-EU borders. An industry leader has even gave a dire warning that Scottish seafood companies only have mere weeks to survive unless action is taken to ease such export delays. Boris Johnson has said that fishing businesses having problems with delays would be compensated, although such a process on conpensation has not been elaborated on. Some fishing businesses have said they’ve been unable to get their product into the EU at all.
US No-Fly Lists After Capitol Breach
Ever since the breach of the US Capitol on January 6th by Trump supporters while Congress was certifying the Electoral College vote, federal authorities have been cracking down on the perpatrators, including making a number of arrests, with many more expected.
It comes ahead of the Biden and Harris inauguration on 20th January where authorities are scrambling to make sure it will be as secure and safe from any possible violence or unrest, with there even being the possibility of planned attacks. The FBI has been scouring social media sources for any threats and have made clear they will visit anyone who have made such violent threats of attacks over the coming days and on the 20th itself. There are even concerns of threats from the inside of authorities themselves, with numerous now being put through a vetting process.
One such measure that has been taken have included adding 1000s of individuals on to no-fly lists, many of whom are Trump supporters who have refused to wear masks on flight and have been generally disruptive to other passangers, such as those they see as opponents to Donald Trump, including Republican senators Mitt Romney and Lindsey Graham who have been heckled in recent weeks. Some Airliners have also banned guns from being stored in luggage on planes flying to D.C. The Federal Aviation Administration has adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards such disruptive passangers.
New policies introduced include large fines and possible jail time to such disruptive passangers, even if they’re a first time offender. American Airlines have also temporarily banned sale of alcohol on its flights.
In further security arrangements over 20,000 armed National Guard troops will also be deploayed to Washington D.C in preparation for the inauguration and any possible violence or attacks.
Officials have warned that Trump supporters have planned armed protests in all 50 US States including the US Capitol, with particular dates of interest including the 16th and 17th January onwards and also the 20th January. One such plan that has been circulating on alternative social media platforms used by Trump supporters and Qanon conspiracy theorists include a Million Militia March.
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