This week, England’s health secretary, Sajid Javid told a Downing Street covid briefing that the government would not “at this point” be implementing its so-called “Plan B” measures to prevent the NHS being overwhelmed—including mandatory face coverings indoors and advising people to work from home. To repurpose a phrase that Javid himself used in July when justifying his decision to remove almost all covid restrictions in England—“If not now, then when?”1 On 20 October 2021—the day of the briefing—the UK recorded 49 139 new cases of covid-19, 179 deaths, and 869 hospital admissions. Javid warned that rising daily infection rates “could yet go as high as 100,000 a day.” The NHS and the BMA say ministers must implement Plan B now, amid warnings of a …

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英国政府对新冠疫情的自满表明尚未吸取教训

本周，英格兰卫生部长萨吉德·贾维德 (Sajid Javid) 在唐宁街冠状病毒简报会上表示，政府“此时”不会实施其所谓的“B 计划”措施，以防止 NHS 不堪重负——包括在室内强制戴面罩和建议人们在家工作。重新利用贾维德本人在 7 月为他决定取消英格兰几乎所有新冠病毒限制的决定辩护时使用的一句话——“如果不是现在，那么什么时候？”1 2021 年 10 月 20 日——简报会当天——英国记录了 49 139 covid-19 病例、179 例死亡和 869 例住院治疗。贾维德警告说，每日感染率不断上升“每天可能会高达 100,000 人”。NHS 和 BMA 表示，部长们现在必须实施 B 计划，因为……