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The new lockdown in England could last longer than the expected four weeks if infection rates from the new coronavirus do not drop fast enough, British Cabinet Minister Michael Gove said.
The lockdown announced on Saturday by Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to run between next Thursday and December 2.
Johnson says hospitals need to be prevented from being overcrowded with COVID-19 patients within weeks.
Minister Michael Gove reveals that the Government has “great hopes” that the closure will end on time, but this cannot be guaranteed.
“With such a malignant virus and its ability to move so quickly, it would be foolish to predict with absolute certainty what will happen in four weeks,” Michael Gove told Sky News.
“We will reassess the situation on December 2, but we will always be guided by what the data says,” he said.
Restrictions
Under the new restrictions, bars and restaurants can only be open for take-away, non-essential businesses must close, and people will only be allowed to leave home for reasons contained in a short list, which includes physical exercise.
Hairdressers, gyms, golf courses, swimming pools and bowling alleys are some of the places that must close and people cannot go on vacation abroad.
Unlike the first three-month lockdown in the UK, earlier this year, schools, universities, construction companies and industry will continue to operate.
The UK has the highest number of coronavirus deaths in Europe, with more than 46,700 deaths, having exceeded one million confirmed cases of coronavirus on Saturday and confirmed another 23,254 new infections in the last 24 hours.
As in other European countries, COVID-19 cases in the UK started to rise after the first lockdown measures eased in the summer and people started to return to workplaces, schools, universities and social life.
In recent weeks, the number of new infections has increased rapidly across the European continent, especially in Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Spain and the United Kingdom.
Johnson hoped that regional restrictions introduced in October, mainly in northern England, would be enough to reduce the number of new infections.
However, government consultants predict that, in the current trajectory of the outbreak, demand for hospital beds will exceed capacity until the first week of December, even if temporary hospitals created in the first peak of the pandemic are reopened.
“Without taking action, we could see the deaths in this country reaching several thousand a day,” Johnson said in announcing the lockdown during a televised statement Saturday night.
But the owners of bars, restaurants, theaters and gyms say the measures will be devastating.
£ 1.8 billion in financing
The government program that paid the salaries of millions of employees laid off during the pandemic was extended during the new lockdown, but many companies say this is not enough, especially in the arts, where most people work as ‘freelancers’.
Mark Davyd, CEO of the Music Venue Trust, urged the government to offer the live events industry more financial support, as has been done in France and Germany.
“We await urgent details from ministers on the financial package that will protect businesses and livelihoods in this vital and world-leading British industry,” he said.
This Sunday, the London government and the transport company reached an agreement to keep buses and the subway running in the capital, where the number of passengers has decreased due to the pandemic.
The financing package, which combines grants and loans, worth 1.8 billion pounds (almost 2 billion euros), is intended to keep the system operating until the end of March.
The new confinement needs the approval of Parliament and the vote is scheduled for Wednesday. Some members of Johnson’s Conservative Party are opposed to tougher restrictions due to the economic fallout, but the Labor Party, the main opposition party, has already announced that it will vote in favor of the new lockdown.
The restrictions will apply to England. Wales and Northern Ireland were already confined and Scotland is under severe regional restrictions.
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