Phillip Schofield, 59, was on hand to host This Morning with co-star Holly Willoughby, 40, and the pair welcomed guests Matthew Wright, 55, and Julia Hartley-Brewer, 53, to talk about the latest headlines. Amongst the topics of discussion on the table was the concern about the increasing cases of the Indian variant of coronavirus being reported across the country and whether people should travel abroad. However, the presenter expressed his opinion on the matter as he voiced his disapproval of the country going into nationwide lockdown.
As the debate rolled on, Matthew Wright said: “Let’s not forget, 77 percent of the adult population is vaccinated.”
Phillip interjected and said: “The ones who aren’t are the younger ones and they’re not at risk [of being admitted to hospital].”
Matthew added: “There is now more concern about younger people being at risk,” but the presenter interrupted him again.
“But hospitalisations are down. You’ll catch it [as a young person] and feel a bit fluey,” he said, not understanding why the country should be put into another lockdown.
“Yes, and I’m broadly in agreement as well. I’m just saying that we’ve seen a 30 percent increase in cases since Monday of the Indian variant,” Matthew replied.
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“And that’s quite a fast growth,” he continued, addressing the concerns that have been stipulated by the Government this week.
Headlines since Monday have been discussing how the Indian variant has now become the dominant variant of coronavirus in the UK.
SAGE experts have been reporting that the increase in cases from the variant could trigger a third wave in Britain after politicians had stated the risk of a third wave had been diminished last week.
Surge testing has begun in several hotspots across the country as the Government tries to bring the spread under control.
As of Wednesday evening, there are 2,967 cases of the Indian variant active in the UK, which is up 2,300 from Monday.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock, 42, has warned the variant of concern is more easily spread between people than the Kent variant which imploded in the UK in December.
The politician told ministers on Wednesday the Government were “determined to do all that we can to ensure this new variant doesn’t put our recovery at risk”.
Local authorities now implementing surge testing includes Bedford, Burnley, Hounslow, Kirklees, Leicester and North Tyneside.
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Hancock added: “The weekly case data in Bolton is now 283 per 100,000 and it doubled in the last week.
“There are now 25 people in Bolton Hospital with Covid – the majority are unvaccinated, nearly 90 percent have not yet had two vaccines.
“This shows the importance of getting vaccinated, not once but twice,” he explained with the latest statistics reporting lower numbers of fatalities.
On Wednesday, three more deaths were recorded from individuals who had contracted the virus within the last 28 days, with 2,696 more cases reported.
The vaccination rollout continues, with 174,100 people being given their first dose on Wednesday and 324,001 getting their second jab.
This now means 17.7 million people are fully vaccinated in England and 20.9 million people are fully vaccinated in the UK as a whole.
Next month, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, 56, was hoping to bring an end to lockdown in Britain completely.
But the increase and spread of cases from the Indian variant of coronavirus has cast doubt on whether this will happen.
This Morning airs weekdays at 10am on ITV.
Published at Thu, 20 May 2021 11:20:00 +0000
'Young people aren't at risk!' Phillip Schofield rages at hesitancy over lockdown easing
