Coronavirus in England, the “rule of six” starts today

LONDON – Today in England is the day of the “Rule of Six”. What does that mean? Due to the sharp increase in coronavirus infections in recent days (constantly above 3,000, yesterday almost 3,500), to date the Johnson government has decided that no more than six people from different families can meet, both in the inside than outside. A sharp pullback after the recently raised limit of 30 people and in effect until yesterday. But the applicability of these new rules raises many questions. First of all, there are major exceptions such as office work (essential for Johnson to repopulate central London and his businesses), weddings and funerals (up to thirty people), religious functions, sporting events reopened to the public and then of course . schools, a cornerstone of the UK’s post-first wave reboot, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said. Therefore, the “rule of six” is intended to primarily affect bars, restaurants, and home visits.

But if the restaurant is no longer including tables and reservations with more than six people, how can private meetings be controlled? Even during the harshest moments of the confinement, British police rarely carried out checks, both by social convention and because people were much more respectful of anti-Covid rules. Now the situation seems to spiral out of control, especially among young people: the 18-25 age group accounts for almost 40% of infections, Health Minister Matt Hancock was very tough (“so you will kill your grandparents! ! “) And therefore the government wants to end the meetings that broke out again during the summer. Also because, although it was never officially excluded, Johnson and the British economy cannot afford another total lockdown, more so coinciding with the end of Brexit on December 31, when a no-deal exit from the EU is possible. which in theory would further aggravate the state of the British economy.

Exterior

Coronavirus in England, pubs reopen tomorrow but it is controversial. Johnson: “Be Responsible”

by our correspondent ANTONELLO GUERRERA

This is why the government is urging the British (because the Welsh and the Scots have different rules about assemblies, such as children not included in the calculation) to report the improper and irresponsible behavior of their compatriots to the police: real and proper accusations, that have unleashed the fears of the more traditional English, who have already had to accept the introduction of a kind of anti-Covid patrols, made up of volunteers who will monitor citizens on compliance with anti-coronavirus regulations, even if they will not be able to impose fines, unlike the police. Over the weekend, as a public deterrent, a Wiltshire boy was fined £ 10,000 for hosting a party at a house with more than 50 guests, taking advantage of his parents’ absence. Something that has been happening for many weeks more and more frequently in England among the youngest.

Two days ago, the government imposed the closure of pubs and restaurants (which can now only do takeout) in Bolton, north of Manchester, following a Covid explosion. If new cases continue to grow, it is not ruled out that these local closures could expand significantly. It is also true that deaths are still low (five yesterday), that there are 600 hospitalized in intensive care today compared to 17 thousand at the peak of the emergency and that the increase in new cases is also due to a marked increase in tests in the United Kingdom. United. in recent weeks, which has even exceeded 200,000 daily, although with many problems, as revealed yesterday sunday time: British laboratories still have many shortcomings, especially in the processing of the results, which in two days reach only a quarter of the total figure, and so often London sends the tests to Italy and Germany to dispose of the hundreds of thousands of overdue swabs for which there is still no answer. In addition, the “test & trace” continues to work: an application like the Italian Immuni does not yet exist and the monitoring system in the facilities and the “hounds” is often short-lived, as many customers leave false data.