| A．politely B．deserving C．Strengthened D．hospitalization E. cases F. under-resourced G. unsurprising H. possibly I. reaching J. readopted K. unsustainable |
Too many people believe that the pandemic is over, England's deputy chief medical officer, Prof Jonathan Van-Tam, warned this week: far from it. Europe is at its centre again, WHO has said, urging governments to continue with public health measures. But though Sajid Javid, England's health secretary, predicted last month that here could hit 100, 000 a day, he remains unwilling to take action — even as the latest Real-time Assessment of Community Transmission (React) findings, for late October, show that about one in 58 people is tested positive — more than double September's levels. The indifference of Mr Javid and his boss, Boris Johnson, is , given the government's record. (Last month's news report on its response stressed that it had " lacked speed in making timely decisions" : if put less , it was far too late, far too often). But their attitude is doubtlessly by a drop in recorded cases over the past week. Some experts think the drop may have to do with the growing immunity caused by high infection rates.
While vaccines (疫苗) (and now treatments) are decreasing rates, current infection levels and breakthrough cases remind us that vaccines do not stop people from catching or spreading Covid, and reduce but do not eliminate the possibility of serious health problems such as long Covid.
The government is counting on boosters (疫苗加强剂), though it says its " plan B" — forced masking, vaccine passports and encouragement to work from home — will be introduced if the pressure on the National Health Service (NHS) is . The British Medical Association believe that point arrived weeks ago. Queues of ambulances are the most visible indication of the pressures. The NHS went into the pandemic and, more obviously at the current stage, short-staffed. The overall impact has been exhausting. Any further increase in Covid patients, already more than 9, 500, would greatly weaken the ability to deal with the huge backlog (积压的工作).
Why take that risk? Forced masking on public transport and in places such as supermarkets must be . The government should introduce Covid passports for crowded venues. Third doses (针剂) must be made more accessible. Adopting these minimal measures now would save lives and protect the NHS, preventing the need for more drastic action later.
