Calls to reintroduce further covid-19 measures in West Yorkshire

Ministers still show no sign of reintroducing other measures like compulsory mask wearing and working from home

Face masks
Author: Hannah NorburyPublished 26th Oct 2021

A Leeds virologist has suggested we can learn lessons from European countries, in how to best fight coronavirus this winter and keep rates down.

Other countries have kept measures in place such as mask wearing, social distancing and working from home.

But UK ministers still show no sign of reintroducing these types of measures.

Nicola Stonehouse is a virologist at the University of Leeds, she said:

"Countries that have controlled coronavirus numbers better than we have, have used a combination of measures, so they've used vaccination and they've also maintained wearing of mask in some situations.

"If we compare the situation in the UK with other parts of Europe, this can be very useful, because it can show us things we are doing well, things we can perhaps learn, using those multiple levels of control seems to be quite important.

"We need to promote vaccination to people who haven't been vaccinated, we need to get booster vaccinations to people who need them and to bring in further measures such as masks."

Around 10 million people in England are currently eligible for a booster jab, including health and care workers and those aged 50 and over.

There's also a push to get young people vaccinated with 100 sites offering jabs to children aged 12 to 15.

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