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On the eve of the day that most coronavirus restrictions were to be lifted, the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer had to react to having been in close contact with Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, who, despite being doubly vaccinated, had contracted Covid. At first Boris Johnson said that under a pilot scheme he would continue to work at Downing Street. Within hours, during which Labour exploited the idea of privilege, he backtracked, declaring it was ‘far more important that everybody sticks to the same rules’. So he would isolate himself (at Chequers) until 26 July. In a trend called by the press a ‘pingdemic’, enterprises found themselves short of workers who had been ‘pinged’ by the NHS Covid app and advised to isolate (520,194 in the first week of July). Some fully vaccinated people in critical roles (not immediately identified) would be able to continue working even if told to self-isolate, the government intimated uncertainly. The FTSE share index fell below 7,000 at fears of a thwarted recovery.
In the seven days to the beginning of the week, 284 people had died with coronavirus, bringing the total of deaths (within 28 days of testing positive) to 128,683. (In the previous week deaths had numbered 192.) All adults had been offered a first vaccination, and 87.8 per cent had accepted; 67.9 per cent of the adult population had received two doses. Children over 12 at higher risk of becoming sick if they catch Covid would now be offered vaccination. The daily number of cases detected by tests rose from 32,367 to 54,674 in a week, and numbers remaining in hospital rose from 2,742 to 3,982. Of those admitted to hospital with Covid, 60 per cent were unvaccinated.
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