[ad_1]
In view of the increasing crown numbers, the British government is introducing a three-stage warning system in England. The system provides for a classification of all areas of England according to risk categories “medium”, “high” or “very high”, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in Parliament on Monday. In Liverpool, which belongs to the very high risk category, all pubs and restaurants will close. In addition, three temporary hospitals will be put back into operation.
“This is not how we want to live our lives,” Johnson admitted. But this is “the good path we have to take between the socioeconomic impact of the total blockade and the enormous human and economic costs of an uncontrolled epidemic.” Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are not affected by the measures, they have their own health systems.
“The next few weeks and months will be difficult,” admitted Johnson. The head of government wants to avoid a closure like in the spring at all costs: schools, universities and shops must remain open this time. So far, the government has imposed local restrictions that affect around a quarter of the population, especially in the north of the country. The warning system Johnson is now introducing is intended to simplify the current patchwork of restrictions and will go into effect on Wednesday.
The first “medium” risk level corresponds to measures that already exist in England: gatherings are limited to six people, pubs and restaurants must close at 10 pm In “high” risk areas, gatherings should also be prohibited between members of different households in closed rooms.
The military should help if necessary
In “very high” risk regions, additional restrictions must be imposed, which can also be enforced with the help of the military. In Liverpool, for example, with its 1.5 million inhabitants, pubs, bars, sports halls and casinos are about to close.
The British club and bar association, NTIA, described the regulations as “extremely disproportionate and unfair” and announced that they would be taking them to court.
British Treasury Secretary Rishi Sunak had promised on Friday that the state would pay up to two-thirds of employees’ monthly wages and salaries if their businesses had to close in winter due to the new alert system. The mayors of several cities in the north of England, such as Liverpool and Manchester, criticized that this support for minimum wage earners and the self-employed was too little.
Establishment of temporary hospitals
Health authorities had recently sounded the alarm about the situation in hospitals. The number of patients admitted with Covid 19 disease now exceeds that of the end of March.
In order to relieve the hospitals, three makeshift hospitals in Manchester, Sunderland and Harrogate have been instructed to prepare for the admission of patients again in the coming weeks, announced the head of state health authorities, Stephen Powis. The makeshift hospitals were established in the spring during the temporary peak of the pandemic, but have since closed again.
The UK has so far recorded more than 42,000 coronavirus-related deaths and nearly 618,000 confirmed infections. On Sunday, the number of new infections was 12,872.
