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More corona cases than in March and the death toll rising again (Prime Minister Johnson no longer wants to see the virus spread in England, but wants to avoid a lockdown) with a new idea.
By Thomas Spickhofen, ARD-Studio London
A clearly concerned Boris Johnson appears in front of the House of Commons. You rarely see him so seriously serious. The prime minister explains that the number of infections has quadrupled in the last three weeks. “We already have more cases of Covid-19 in our hospitals than in March when we entered the lockdown. And the number of deaths is also increasing.”
Northern England is firmly dominated by the virus, but the numbers are also rising inexorably in the Midlands and Greater London. Above all, the renewed threat of overloading clinics is forcing the British prime minister to act.
The “balanced approach” has had its day
“We don’t want to re-enter a national lockdown, but we can’t just watch the virus. That’s why we’ve been taking a balanced approach since the summer,” Johnson said.
However, the balanced approach generated a lot of confusion: even Johnson sometimes no longer knew who could meet, where and what size of group. Now a new three-stage system is supposed to help.
The first stage, of medium danger, applies to most of the country. The 10 pm curfew and the presence of a maximum of six people in private meetings still apply there. At high-risk level two, members of different households can no longer meet in closed rooms. And at level three, very high risk, this is not allowed outside either. At this last stage, pubs and bars will also need to be closed, Johnson said.
Third stage included in Liverpool
The third stage will be used in regions where the virus is currently spreading particularly rapidly and the healthcare system is already under pressure, for example in Liverpool. There the number of new weekly infections is 600 per 100,000 inhabitants.
“Liverpool will go up to the third stage on Wednesday,” Johnson announced. “In addition to pubs and bars, leisure centers, betting offices and games rooms will also be closed there.”
London’s central government can decide to curfew and shut down entire industries, while local authorities are responsible for other measures, such as shutting down local leisure centers. Negotiations between London and the regions are still ongoing in many places as local authorities are demanding greater financial security for the closure of the facilities.
