There is still no need for tougher Covid restrictions in England based on hospital data up to the end of 2021, a health minister has insisted.
Edward Argar said the numbers on wards and in intensive care were dramatically down on one year ago, showing vaccines and better treatment had put the country in “a very, very different position”.
“I’m seeing nothing in the data right in front of me, in the immediate situation, that suggests a need for further restrictions,” he said, in the first interview granted by a minister since Christmas.
He spoke just before another 137,583 new cases were confirmed in the previous 24 hours.
Meanwhile, secondary school pupils in England will have to wear face masks in class again after the Christmas holidays because of Covid-19, ministers have ruled.
