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Covid, the failure of the United Kingdom. 15 thousand “lost” infections due to a problem with Excel
But there is no other option, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson said today in Parliament: “Hospitalizations for Covid have exceeded those of March and we have to lower infections, otherwise we would have too many victims on our conscience. Weeks and months await us. very difficult. Also because “, stressed the British prime minister with some unprecedented pessimism,” it is not clear if and when we will have the vaccine. For Sars, for example, it has never been found. “
Because the problem is always the same: in the north of England and in some parts of the center, infections have exploded in recent weeks, more than 500 new cases per day out of 100,000. That is why it is urgent to break the chain of infections. In this sense, we have not yet reached a national “break”, that is, a closure of the country for two weeks to break the chain of contagion. But the measures that the British Prime Minister presented today in the House of Commons for some areas, go in that direction. But the controversies are many, especially from the local administrations involved.
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The basis of the new restrictions, also to simplify a system that until now has been quite chaotic, as shown by the confusion of the premier himself on television a few days ago, will be a system with three progressive levels of alerts and restrictions. In recent days there has been talk of a “traffic light”, although it will not be so because the green is missing and we start with orange: the “Level 1” alarm, probably planned for areas with a level of contagion that does not exceed 100 out of 100 thousand inhabitants, the restrictions that are currently applied throughout the national territory will be considered, including the “curfew” of bars, pubs and restaurants at 10 pm and the “rule of six”, so that no more than six people of different families, inside and outside.
The Covid19 Level 2 alarm, on the other hand, will likely go off when an area of England overrides the “100 quota” of daily new cases per 100,000 inhabitants and will add to these restrictions already in place across England (including London), the limit maximum. of two families in contact. Finally, Level 3 (for which a numerical threshold of cases has not yet been established) is intended for the areas most affected by the virus such as Liverpool, it requires the closure of bars, pubs and perhaps even restaurants (in this last point there is still battle), along with gyms, casinos and gambling centers, for at least four weeks. In addition, contacts with any other family unit outside their own, as well as travel outside the city of residence and any form of hospitality of a person outside the family unit or non-resident (even if only for one night) will be prohibited. , beyond essential family or work reasons.
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Ultimately, the “Level 3” that Liverpool “will close” will be practically a local closure, although essential offices, schools and shops will remain open, as was already approved in large areas of Scotland a few days ago. The program will be presented today in Parliament, tomorrow it will be voted on in the House of Commons and as of Wednesday they will be in force for at least four weeks, among other renewable. According to Transport Minister Grant Shapps, the goal is to return to acceptable and controlled levels of contagion before Christmas, which is why pessimism of new family divisions is growing.
But it is precisely “Level 3” that triggers the controversy. In the areas involved in the north, big cities like Manchester and Newcastle, in addition to the aforementioned Liverpool, will likely end up locked in. This has caused a wide protest from local authorities who do not want such harsh restrictions since the local economy has already been greatly affected by the first wave of the coronavirus and a second “closure” could devastate a good part of the economic and business fabric of the country . North England. For the mayors of Manchester and Liverpool, the 66% dismissal announced by the young and unbridled Finance Minister Rishi Sunak for the affected locals “is not enough” (in the first wave it was 80%): “We need more”. In addition, they demand that at least restaurants be saved from local closure. It seems that at least this will be accepted by the central government.
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In addition, there is the fear of frustration and, at worst, anger from the north of England, poorer than other parts of the country, combined with a more general and growing feeling of skepticism towards the Johnson government, inflated by mistakes and failures in government. management of the pandemic and also some scandals: see the “rasputin” of Prime Minister Dominic Cummings, captured several times for not respecting the anti-Covid rules but for this never sanctioned or sanctioned by the executive himself. In addition, the working-class and historically Labor North was decisive in the last elections to win Boris Johnson, because these areas are also very much in favor of Brexit. The prime minister, therefore, does not want to lose support for these voters, unsuspected until some time ago. But it won’t be easy.
Also because there is also a political battle in London. Johnson is between two fires: on the one hand, the most liberal, traditionalist and covid-skeptical fringe of the Conservative Party that does not want other restrictions in the country, if not extremely necessary, because it does not want to re-lock the economy on the eve of the very delicate Brexit of 31 from December. , which will undoubtedly provoke an economic reaction as yet unknown. On the other hand, the Johnson administration’s medical and scientific leaders have been sounding the contagion alarm for weeks and are increasingly calling for a mini two-week national shutdown to quell the spiral of infections. The prime minister seeks a difficult, perhaps impossible synthesis.
