British health authorities have decided to lower the alert level for the Covid-19 pandemic one step further, the risk of hospital flooding having "receded" in the United Kingdom. -

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British health authorities decided on Thursday to lower the alert level relating to the Covid-19 pandemic, the risk of submersion of hospitals having "receded" in the United Kingdom, subjected to severe confinement since early January.

From five, its maximum, the alert level increases to four, said in a joint statement the medical chiefs of the four constituent nations of the country (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland).

"The threat of overwhelming the national health service or other health services within 21 days has receded," they explained.

"We must not have any illusions"

"We should not be deluded: transmission rates, pressure on hospitals and deaths remain at a high level," they warned.

“Over time, vaccines will have major repercussions.

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Faced with a sudden surge in contamination attributed to a more contagious variant, the British authorities decreed general confinement in early January, with the closure of schools.

Some regions like London have been confined since mid-December.

These measures, along with a vigorous vaccination campaign with the help of the army and tens of thousands of volunteers, have sharply reduced the number of new cases.

After having exceeded 38,000 at the end of January (against a peak at just over 20,000 during the first wave in April), the number of patients hospitalized with Covid-19 now stands at 16,000.

More than a quarter of the population received their first dose of vaccine

More than 18 million people have received a first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, more than a quarter of the population.

On the strength of this progress, the British government of Boris Johnson hopes to start on March 8, with the reopening of schools, a very gradual deconfinement in England to be carried out until the end of June.

The United Kingdom is the most bereaved country in Europe by the pandemic with more than 121,000 dead.

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