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HIGHLIGHTS
- Pandemic hardships for UK economy and businesses continue
- Covid-19 infections in England remain over 1 million in week ending 22 October
- Infection ratio is worst in Wales where 1 in every 40 individuals have Covid-19
The pandemic hardships for the United Kingdom economy and the businesses operating within the country continue as Covid-19 (SARS-CoV-2) cases in England climb 1 million mark in the week ending 22 October 2021.
Thousands of small-to-medium scale enterprises are still grappling with the unending troubles of pandemic, including the supply side constraints, unavailability of skilled people, while the vacancies remain near record levels. Even after the massive reopening, withdrawal of pandemic restrictions and termination of social distancing mandates, there are many businesses which are unable to operate at their full scales due to acute limitedness of staff and the dearth of raw materials.
According to the weekly infection survey released by the Office for National Statistics, the percentage of individuals testing positive for Covid-19 remained on a rise in the third week of October, with the cumulative cases in the UK nearing 1.3 million. Notably, England represents the highest number of infections with a count of 1,102,800 people, while the ratio was worst in Wales where 1 in every 40 individuals returned positive.
The proportion of infection in England stood nearly at 1 in every 50 people. In the week ending 22 October 2021, the total number of Covid-19 cases in Wales was 77,800, Northern Ireland had 23,900 infections, and Scotland reported a figure of 71,500. Both Scotland and Northern Ireland have an infection ratio of 1 in every 75 people for the figures recorded up until 22 October 2021.
The uncertain Covid activity in the UK has categorically unsettled the business environment as the country prepares to welcome international passengers in higher numbers from the nations which have been recently removed from the red list.
Moreover, the resurgence of Covid infections possess an eminent threat to the national healthcare system as the respective healthcare administration has not been able to contain the rise of cases and spread of virus even after inoculating almost everyone in the initial priority lists recommended by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).
The turbulence in capital markets, national currency and other economic drivers have been fuelled by the massive rise in the number of cases linked to the Delta variant and its sub-lineages.
According to the Department for Transport (DfT), the remaining seven countries will removed from red list in accordance with the public health advisory, while the Downing Street administration continues to maintain the number of quarantine hotels and the mechanism of red list in order to avert and defend against the possible cases linked to the variants of concerns and variants under investigation.
It will be crucial to see whether the authorities manage to control the rising number of cases in the upcoming weeks as businesses prepare for the festival season and the period of high consumer spending as the masses will be celebrating Christmas without restrictions for the first time after 2019.
