The federation representing the British public health service on Wednesday called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to extend the post-Brexit transition period, fearing the consequences of a “no deal” with the EU in the midst of a new strain of new coronavirus.
• Read also: All developments in the COVID-19 pandemic
Faced with a surge in cases of contamination and hospitalizations attributed by London to a new variant that would be up to 70% more transmissible, the NHS Confederation believes that health services could move out of “the immediate danger zone” if Boris Johnson obtained from Brussels a one-month extension of the transitional period which ends on December 31, in a letter addressed to the conservative leader.
An extension of this period, during which European rules continue to apply, “will allow the NHS to continue to focus on the fight against the pandemic without having to face the disruptive changes caused by a lack of agreement”, underlines the NHS Confederation, one of the organizations representing the health service.
“1er January, the NHS will face one of the biggest challenges in its history during what is traditionally its busiest time of the year, ”she said, noting that nearly 19,000 patients with COVID-19 were currently hospitalized, a level close to that seen during the first wave in the spring.
With less than ten days before the deadline and the United Kingdom’s exit from the single European market, London and Brussels are struggling to agree on the terms of their future trade relationship, raising the specter of a lack of agreement and fears of serious disruptions in the country’s supplies.
The United Kingdom, which began to deploy a massive vaccination program in early December, has one of the heaviest tolls in Europe, with more than 68,000 deaths. It recorded 36,804 new infections on Tuesday, a record since the start of the pandemic, which brings the total to more than 2.1 million positive cases.
To avoid the potential chaos of a “no deal”, the Scottish Prime Minister, Nicola Sturgeon (independence activist), and the Labor mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, had already this week called on the government of Boris Johnson to ask for an extension of the transition period, which the latter firmly excluded.