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For four weeks starting next Thursday, an almost complete shutdown will take effect in England again to slow the spread of the coronavirus epidemic.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told a news conference Saturday night in Downing Street that from November 5 to December 2, people living in England can only leave their homes for certain specific reasons.
These include medical care, the purchase of essentials and medicines, trips to work for those who cannot do their work from home, and exercise outside.
People living in the same household can do this together, but everyone can only meet one person, not one who lives under one roof, in public.
Johnson announced that next Thursday, stores that sell non-essential items, as well as pubs, bars and restaurants, will be closed for four weeks, although food can still be ordered for home delivery.
Schools and universities will remain open during closing.
In the first phase of the restrictions introduced on March 23, travel was also banned, with the exception of those who worked in critical workplaces such as hospitals, even for those unable to work from home.
The British Prime Minister also stressed that jobs must now remain open, especially in the construction and manufacturing sectors.
Another significant difference is that, unlike the spring restrictions imposed indefinitely, this time the measure has an end date.
At a press conference on Saturday night, Boris Johnson stressed that the closure, which will take effect next Thursday, will end on December 2, and from there the government intends to recreate the softer regional system of different levels of preparation in different parts of the country.
The measure announced Saturday is a major turning point in the government’s anti-epidemic strategy to date.
Johnson, on several occasions in recent weeks, practically ruled out the reapplication of a nationwide quarantine, arguing that such a move would have catastrophic economic consequences.
The UK economy suffered severely from the orderly shutdown at the end of March, and the UK’s gross domestic product (GDP) fell 19.8 percent in the second quarter of this year from an unprecedented pace since the start of March. quarterly measurements 65 years ago.
Recently, however, members of the government’s scientific advisory body have come under increasing pressure on the prime minister to introduce more comprehensive anti-epidemic measures, given the accelerating spread of coronavirus infections.
England’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty, the government’s top health adviser, told a news conference Saturday night: increased fivefold.
Boris Johnson told a press conference that, based on model calculations by government advisers, the dynamics of the current epidemic without the recently announced countermeasures would risk a coronavirus epidemic causing thousands of deaths a day throughout of the time, much more than during the peak of spring.
There were periods in April when more than 1,200 people died daily from the coronavirus epidemic in the UK.
At the same time, the British Prime Minister stressed that he sincerely believes that thanks to the measures being taken now, families can spend this Christmas together across the country. Now, a very close perspective is the massive use of rapid and inexpensive coronavirus tests that everyone can perform on their own and that show results in 10-15 minutes.
Boris Johnson said he was also optimistic about the chances that the country will be in a very different position, much better than it is now in the spring, and the government’s scientific advisers are unanimous in his statement.
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