[ad_1]
Boris Johnson ordered a four-week national lockdown on England starting Thursday, but faces criticism that his delay in imposing restrictions will come at a “very real” human cost.
The prime minister rejected calls last month for a short and abrupt shutdown, but after local restrictions failed to reduce infections, he was forced to tell the country to “stay home” once again.
From Thursday to December 2, people in England will only be able to leave their homes for specific reasons, such as education, work or grocery shopping.
At a press conference in Downing Street on Saturday night, Johnson said there was “no alternative” to a second period of nationwide lockdown restrictions.
Government scientific advisers warned that hospitals could run out of beds as early as December without further measures.
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
The prime minister urged the country to return to its spring message of “staying home, protecting the NHS and saving lives” and acknowledged that “Christmas is going to be different this year.”
However, Johnson suggested that “tough action now” could allow families to be together during the holiday period.
Johnson said that “no responsible prime minister” could ignore the growing number of coronavirus infections in England.
And he warned that without action, there could be a greater number of COVID-19 deaths this winter than during the first wave of the spring pandemic.
Schools, colleges and universities will remain open, while those unable to work from home, such as construction or manufacturing workers, will be encouraged to continue to go to their workplaces.
Pubs, bars and restaurants will close throughout the country, although they may offer take-out and home delivery services.
Non-essential shops, hair salons, and entertainment venues will also be closed.
The prime minister said the leave scheme, which has made the government pay a proportion of people’s wages during the COVID-19 crisis but was supposed to end on Saturday, will now run until November.
Different households will be prohibited from mixing, although support bubbles and babysitting bubbles will remain and children will still be able to move between households if their parents are separated.
The gyms will be closed, but people can continue to exercise for unlimited periods outdoors, either with people from their own homes or individually with a person from another home.
People will be able to travel internationally for work purposes, but will not be allowed to travel abroad for vacations.
Premier League football and other elite sports will be allowed to continue, due to current testing regimes for professional athletes, but amateur sports will be suspended.
The prime minister said the vulnerable will not be asked to protect themselves in the same way that they did in the spring and early summer.
But he urged those at risk to minimize their contact with others and not go to work if they cannot work from home.
Parliamentarians are expected to vote on the new measures on Wednesday.
In early October it emerged that the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), which advises the government on its response to the pandemic, called for a brief shutdown in September, prompting Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer to urge Johnson to impose such restrictions.
Sir Keir said on Saturday that Johnson should have scrapped the regional strategy “weeks ago.”
“Everybody is concerned about the increase in infections, hospital admissions and, tragically, the number of deaths,” he said.
“That is why three weeks ago the Labor Party called for a circuit breaker in England, in line with SAGE’s recommendation to reduce infections.
“The government completely rejected that just now to announce the same thing. Unfortunately, the delay now will cost, the blockade will be longer, it will be more difficult and there will be a human cost that will be very, very real.”
He also said: “I am glad that the government finally made this decision, but it should have been weeks ago.”
The British Medical Association also said it was “regrettable that the SAGE warnings did not apply until September 21”.
Sir Patrick Vallance warned that the deaths could be near the peak of the first wave in early December.
Also at the press conference, England’s Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty said that there were now several hospitals with more coronavirus patients than they had during the first wave of infections.
Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser, said that “if nothing is done,” then the death toll could be near the peak of the first wave in early December.
The prime minister highlighted how other countries, such as France and Germany, had already been forced to take similar steps by re-entering lockdown restrictions as the second wave of the virus spreads across Europe.
But he said better medicine, the “realistic hope of a vaccine” in early 2021 and the prospect of millions of 15-minute COVID-19 tests made him optimistic “that this will feel very different and better by spring.” .
“We will get through this, but we must act now to contain this fall surge,” Johnson added.
“We are not going back to the full-scale lockdown of March and April.
“It is less prohibitive and less restrictive, but as of Thursday the basic message is the same: stay home, protect the NHS and save lives.”
Until now, the government has been applying a localized approach to COVID-19 restrictions, with England divided into three tiers of measures, based on local infection rates.
Johnson said he still believes “passionately” that the three-tier strategy “was the right thing to do,” despite growing calls in recent weeks for him to abandon the plan in favor of a “circuit breaker” lockdown.
The prime minister highlighted the government’s goal that, after a month-long period of stricter national measures, different parts of the country will be returned to the existing three tiers, depending on regional transmission rates.
England is returning to the ‘stay home’ message of spring
Analysis: the return of the forceful mantra of the general confinement
By Tom Rayner, Political Correspondent
The prime minister uttered the phrase he hoped he would never say again; “Stay home, protect the NHS, save lives.”
The return of the forceful mantra of the general confinement.
He came with an acknowledgment that there was no alternative to what he had previously described as the “nuclear option.”
The 80% paid leave regime that his chancellor had insisted would end today will run until December 2.
There are notable differences from the restrictions that were in effect at the beginning of the year, among other things that schools will remain open, but the public can be forgiven for not being the main message.
Just yesterday, senior cabinet officials continued to insist that a national shutdown was not necessary and that the tiered approach was the correct one.
What caused such an abrupt change?
The message from the scientists’ data slides was used to corroborate the prime minister’s core message: If left unchecked, the NHS could be overwhelmed within weeks.
This was not to protect Christmas, as some had supposed, but to prevent doctors and nurses from being forced to ration who they can try to save.
The prime minister claimed that the regional-level approach was correct, while there were disparities in incidence rates in different areas.
But he acknowledged that rates are now growing too fast everywhere to hold up.
In other words, Boris Johnson is not admitting that he should have followed SAGE and the calls of Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer and instituted a “circuit breaker” lockout two weeks ago.
The prime minister concluded by saying he was “optimistic” that things would be much closer to normal by spring, citing improved treatments, the prospect of a vaccine and rapid mass tests.
But in July, from the same podium, the prime minister expressed similar optimism that we could ease restrictions significantly by November.
Much for that.
