UK health minister Javid tests positive for Covid, says he's having mild symptoms
Premium- Javid said he was waiting for PCR result, 'thankfully I have had my jabs and symptoms are mild'
UK health minister Sajid Javid on Saturday informed that he has tested positive for Covid-19. "This morning I tested positive for Covid. I’m waiting for my PCR result, but thankfully I have had my jabs and symptoms are mild. Please make sure you come forward for your vaccine if you haven’t already," he said in a tweet.
On Friday, the UK recorded 36,800 cases logged, which marked a 17 per cent increase over the previous week. The health officials in the country said that the Delta variant of Covid continued its rise in the UK.
Public Health England (PHE) said that the infections continue to be high and rising but there had not been a corresponding rise in the number of hospitalisations with Covid, indicating that the vaccinations were effective against the highly transmissible variant.
Of the 36,800 cases of Delta B1.617.2 variant over the past week, 45 are from the Delta AY.1 sub lineage with the mutation K417N, which is feared to be more vaccine resistant – a proportion that has remained consistent over the past few weeks.
“Case rates are still high and rising, but it is encouraging that the increase in cases still does not appear to be associated with a similar increase in hospitalisations and deaths. This is testament to the continued success of the vaccination programme in reducing the incidence of severe disease," said Dr Jenny Harries, Chief Executive of the UK Health Security Agency.
“The best way to keep yourself and those around you safe is to get both doses of the vaccine as soon as you are eligible. However, while vaccines offer excellent protection, they do not completely eliminate risk," she said.
Commenting on both doses of vaccine, Javid said that "every vaccine is another brick in our wall of protection and I’m incredibly pleased that the latest data from REACT [Real-time Assessment of Community Transmission] shows almost 100 per cent of people tested positive for antibodies after their second dose of the vaccine".
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