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The UK announced the four-stage gradual “unlocking” plan on Monday night (February 22), hoping to fully lift the epidemic prevention measures by June 21 this year, but these four stages should progress gradually under the relevant conditions.
The first phase is scheduled to start in early March, which includes the reopening of schools in England and the relaxation of social restrictions.
According to the plan announced by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (also translated as Johnson & Johnson), in the second phase, that is, on April 12 of this year, shops, hairdressers, gyms and outdoor restaurants will be able to reopen in England .
In addition, as of May 17, two families can visit each other to meet, and up to six people can meet in a tavern.
However, whether each stage is open or not can only be determined after testing all four criteria: vaccine injection status, infection rate, and monitoring for new coronavirus mutations.
The British prime minister declared in Parliament that the unblocking plan “will be implemented with caution to avoid further changes.” Furthermore, the decision at each stage will be determined by “data instead of date.” He also said: “In the UK, there is no path to zero diagnosis, not even in the world.”
Johnson later told a news conference in Downing Street that next spring and summer will be “the season of hope. For all of us, we will feel better than before.” He also called the plan “A path to freedom.” , cannot guarantee that the plan will be irreversible, “but our objective is to achieve it.”
This unlocking plan was announced after the first publication of the first data for the promotion of vaccination. According to the data, vaccination has a “great” help in curbing the pneumonia epidemic.
Regarding the unlocking plan, Jenet Wang, a Taiwanese living in the UK, shared her views on Facebook “Taiwanese in the UK” and said: “They have all been closed for so long and they can’t wait to come back to normality. Life. This time the British government The closure policy is much more cautious than before, and little by little we are seeing the dawn of the end of the epidemic “.
However, some Chinese in the UK criticized the UK for poor epidemic prevention on Facebook and caused a serious epidemic. Previous instructions from the government were unclear. Many people were still unwilling to wear masks. The situation after the unblocking of the ban worries them.
As of this Monday (February 22), around 17 million people in the UK, or a third of the UK’s total population, have received the first dose of the new corona vaccine. However, that day 10,641 confirmed cases and 178 new deaths were reported.
The United Kingdom is one of the countries with the most serious COVID-19 pandemic in the world. So far, more than 4.1 million people have been infected. Confirmed cases are second only to the United States, India and Brazil, and more than 120,000 people have died. In December of last year, the UK led the world in vaccination. It also relaxed the epidemic prevention lockdown around Christmas, leading to an increase in confirmed cases. The lockdown measures were announced again in early January 2021.
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Professor Chris Whitty explained the interval between the four stages of unlocking.
Four stages to unlocking the UK
As of March 8, all schools in England will be open and will allow after-school sports and outdoor activities. Allow two people to relax and entertain themselves in public outdoor places (such as parks), which means they can sit down for a drink or picnic.
Starting March 29, two families or up to six people are allowed to meet outdoors. This includes gatherings in private gardens. Outdoor sports facilities such as tennis or basketball courts will reopen, and adult and children’s sports (such as cricket) will resume.
High school students can take tests and must wear masks in classrooms and hallways.
There should be at least a five-week interval between each stage of unlocking to assess the change in the rate of new corona infection and the number of hospitalizations in each stage.
As of April 12, the spaces related to economic behavior will be reopened, which include:
- Public places such as retail stores, hair salons, and libraries that sell non-essential products are open.
- Open-air spaces such as take-out shops, beer gardens, zoos, and theme parks.
- Indoor leisure facilities are open, such as swimming pools and gyms.
- Self-sufficient holiday accommodation such as self-catering cottages and campsites.
However, some social activities are still prohibited. This means that different families cannot meet “indoors.”
Johnson also confirmed that England’s nightly curfew, which includes food and drinks, will be lifted to save London’s troubled hotel industry. He also said that the results of the review of current non-commercial international travel restrictions will be announced on April 12.
Tours in the UK are open (same household can stay overnight). In addition, the funeral has capacity for 30 people and the wedding has capacity for 15 guests.
The third phase of unlocking will begin on May 17 (provided that the above data shows that it is feasible), the “six person limit” for outdoor gatherings will be raised and relax to 30 people.
- Allow two families or six people to have mixed gatherings indoors and meet in outdoor hospitality venues (such as bars), and check if the six person outdoor meeting limit was canceled.
- Cinemas, museums, hotels, shows and sports competitions are open. Social distancing has yet to be implemented, under this regulation, in some large soccer stadiums or outdoor venues, up to 10,000 spectators can watch the game.
- It can accommodate up to 30 people to participate in weddings, receptions, funerals and spirits.
Johnson also said this step will also “consider COVID-19 identification” (known as a vaccination passport) to help closed places reopen safely.
Before entering the fourth stage, British officials will review whether to continue maintaining social distancing and other “long-term measures” aimed at reducing the spread of the virus, including the social distancing rule of “more than one meter” and the requirement to wear masks The government will also consider abolishing the “work from home” guidelines. The government said that people should continue to follow epidemic prevention regulations until the review of these policies is completed.
Starting June 21, the government can remove all restrictions on social distancing and contact, and reopen the last batch of commercial spaces, such as nightclubs (clubs).
The government hopes to remove restrictions on the number of weddings and funerals from that day on.
Those who organize music events ask the government to provide more financial support for this field. A live music performance operator told the BBC that once the epidemic prevention restrictions are lifted, his industry will “reopen.”
British MPs will vote on the four-stage unlocking plan at the end of March.
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The leader of the opposition Labor Party, Sir Keir Starmer, welcomed the plan, but said the government needs a plan for future unpaid leave for companies and workers.
Professor Neil Ferguson of Imperial College London believes that the four-phase unlocking plan has been “adequately balanced” but cautioned that reopening schools may increase the number of daily diagnoses.
Sir Patrick Vallance, UK chief scientific adviser, told the Downing Street epidemic press conference that a five-week interval between each phase is to avoid “blind action”. It is also “very important”.
He added that those “basic” measures – such as face covering, hand washing and self-isolation in some cases – may continue this winter.
During the pandemic, all parts of the UK have the right to set their own epidemic prevention policies, but they are largely moving in the same direction, albeit at different speeds.
Scotland’s Chief Minister Nicola Sturgeon said that once lockdown measures are relaxed, Scotland will revert to the classification restriction system. This means that outbreak prevention rules may be different in different regions. Sturgeon added that he will announce on Tuesday (February 23) that Scotland may cancel the tiered plan of related epidemic prevention measures.
Wales’ Chief Minister Mark Drakeford (Mark Drakeford) said he expected the “stay at home” rule to end within three weeks and that some shops and hair salons could reopen.
Northern Ireland Chief Minister Arlene Foster hopes her senior government officials will discuss with Johnson the school’s reopening date.
- Mass vaccination continues;
- The vaccine effectively reduces hospitalization and mortality;
- The infection rate will not cause the hospitalization rate to increase again;
- Variant viruses will not change the risk assessment.
Image source,EPA
Analysis: the key role of vaccination
Nick Triggle, BBC Health Reporter (Nick Triggle)
Since the beginning of this year, the vaccination situation has been good and the level of new coronavirus infection has dropped five times.
So why many people ask, why you need to be so careful about unlocking?
The answer lies in the large data attached to the announcement of the unlocking method by the government.The model was investigated by the Imperial University of London. These data show that if the epidemic prevention restrictions are quickly relaxed, it may cause an increase in summer deaths, and there may be 80,000 new deaths per corona by mid-2022.
But this model still poses some problems. For example, it does not take into account seasonal factors, because hot weather can reduce the spread of the virus.
In contrast, gradual unlocking can reduce the death toll to about 30,000. This is consistent with the way we view the winter death toll from severe flu. Professor Chris Whitty, UK chief medical consultant, said this is the background data for us to judge the epidemic.
