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Following the announcement of a partial closure for England, the opposition accuses Prime Minister Johnson of acting too late. The experts consider that the measures are too lax. The British government is justified.
By Christoph Heinzle, ARD Studio London
Political dispute and many question marks the day after the closure decision. For weeks Prime Minister Boris Johnson had opposed a national regulation for England. Then the change: “We have to act now to limit the increase in the decline,” Johnson said Saturday. Scientists on the government’s advisory council had advised the prime minister to take more drastic measures six weeks ago.
His prediction was that the second wave would be significantly worse than the first. They suggested a short and harsh intervention to curb the exponential increase in the number of corona infections.
Labor accuses the government of incompetence
In mid-October, the Labor opposition pushed for the fall recess to be used at the end of the month. Labor leader Keir Starmer now accuses the government of incompetence. “People are wondering today how it got this far. The government was too slow in the first wave and now again. So the blockade now will take longer.”
Johnson’s Cabinet Secretary Michael Gove defended the government line. In a multi-tiered system, initially it only decided restrictions for areas with a high number of infections. Other countries in Europe would have done the same, Gove argued. But now the situation is different. “The virus,” he says, “has spread more violently than we expected or feared.”
Protect the health system
Without additional measures, based on model calculations, there is a risk of 2,000 to 4,000 deaths per day; during the first wave there were 1000. Ultimately, the deciding factor for the government was the threatening consequences for the state health system, the NHS. “We have to take these steps because there is a risk that the NHS will be overwhelmed,” Gove said. If the government had not acted now, the NHS would be at full capacity on December 4. “All available spaces and all corridors would be filled. People with other serious illnesses or emergencies, such as a heart attack or stroke, could no longer be admitted,” Gove said.
Too late and too short?
Starting Thursday, the following applies for four weeks: No more guests in restaurants and pubs, shops must close unless essentials are sold. Contacts outside of one’s home should also be restricted, with a few exceptions. Those who can should work from home. The government argued that a balance should be maintained with respect to the recession and the economy.
The leader of the opposition, Starmer, sees it the other way around. A later and longer blockade would have much greater economic consequences. “Now people are not only concerned about their health, but also about their work. And we can’t tell them, I’m sorry, we’re late, but you’ll have to pay the price.”
There are already doubts about whether four weeks will be enough. The government only wants to relax restrictions if the virus’s spread rate, the R-value, falls below 1. Difficult to do, experts say, as long as schools remain open. The government emphasized that again today. One would be more willing to extend the blockade.
