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Pubs, bars and restaurants in England will be ordered to close at 10 p.m. every night starting Thursday under strict restrictions to be announced by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in a bid to stem the rapid rise in coronavirus cases.
The Prime Minister will use a speech to the nation tonight to outline new measures to stop the spread of Covid-19, which will also restrict the hospitality sector to table service only.
Johnson will emphasize the need for people to follow social distancing guidelines, cover their faces and wash their hands regularly, and reportedly urge people to work from home where it does not hurt business.
It comes after the government’s top scientific and medical advisers painted a grim picture of how 200 or more people in the UK could die every day in mid-November if the current rate of infection is not stopped.
Patrick Vallance, speaking alongside Professor Chris Whitty, said that “the vast majority of the population remains susceptible” to contracting coronavirus and that the current situation requires swift action to reduce the number of cases.
The four UK medical directors then recommended raising the Covid alert level from three to four, the second highest, indicating that “the epidemic is in general circulation; the transmission is high or increases exponentially ”.
Johnson will chair Cobra emergency committee and cabinet meetings, including leaders from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, today ahead of a televised address at 8pm.
A spokesperson for Number 10 said: “No one underestimates the challenges that the new measures will pose for many individuals and businesses.
“We know this will not be easy, but we must take more steps to control the resurgence of virus cases and protect the NHS.”
The new restrictions provoked the ire of the hospitality industry, and Kate Nicholls, UK Hospitality CEO, described them as “another devastating blow” for many companies.
“A difficult closing is bad for business and bad for controlling the virus; we need to allow time for people to disperse for a longer period, ”he said.
“Table service has been widely adopted in some parts of the industry since the reopening, but it is not necessary in all businesses, such as coffee shops.
It is difficult to understand how these measures are the solution to fighting the disease when government data shows that only 5% of infections outside the home are related to hospitality.
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said the new rules “would feel like a step backward” and urged the government to fix the track and trace system and help the hotel industry.
He said: “The Prime Minister must also financially help bars and restaurants that will inevitably lose business. After people have already been through so many difficulties, we cannot allow thousands of jobs to disappear overnight. “
Working from home
Speaking on Sky News this morning, UK Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove said that people will also be urged to work from home once again after being encouraged in recent months to return to work in the office.
No news is bad news
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Full exchange on new WFH tips between @michaelgove and @KayBurley: pic.twitter.com/8n6ZZWufwy
– Joe Pike (@joepike) September 22, 2020
There will be a change of emphasis. And one of the things that we are going to emphasize is that if it is possible for people to work from home, then we will encourage them to do so, “she said.
Now, it is important to emphasize that there are many, many, many roles that cannot be performed from home. There are people in manufacturing and construction, in retail and other roles where we recognize that it is simply impossible. And that’s okay, we’ve worked to make sure you can have safe workplaces from Covid.
In mid-September, around 3,000 new cases were reported every day in the UK and if growth continued unabated, 50,000 cases would occur by mid-October, Vallance said yesterday.
He warned that “50,000 cases per day are expected to lead a month later, bringing by mid-November, say, more than 200 deaths per day.”
“The challenge, therefore, is to make sure that the doubling time does not remain in seven days.”
– With a report by Rónán Duffy
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