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A senior conservative has urged people in England to “restrict” socializing before a total lockdown begins on Thursday.
Michael Gove indicated that people should resist the temptation to go out for a final series of nights before the national shutdown.
Boris Johnson announced last night that nonessential pubs, restaurants, barber shops and stores will close until at least December 2.
People will be prohibited from mingling socially with anyone who is not in their home or bubble, anywhere indoors or outdoors.
The only exemption is that two people from two households can meet in an open public space, such as a park.
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However, the shutdown will only start at 12:01 am on Thursday, because it must first be approved by Parliament.
And the five-day delay was compounded by the fact that the plans were leaked to the newspapers on Friday night.
The Minister of the Cabinet Office, Mr. Gove, suggested that people should start obeying the new rules now as much as possible.
He said that while people will need time to prepare, they should “try to restrict social contact” as much as possible.
When asked if people should start changing their behavior now, he told Times Radio: “That’s a very good point.
(Image: Sky News)
“I think that, whenever possible, we should observe all the rules about social distancing, all the rules about limiting the risk of spreading the infection.
“But we also need to use Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to make those adjustments in our lives and lifestyles necessary so that we can comply with the full force of the new regulations coming in on Thursday.
“So I don’t want to intimidate or judge anyone, there will be individual circumstances that people will face for the next few days as they prepare for these restrictions, which will mean that people will need to make sure that they and their families are safe and have everything. they need for the next few weeks.
“But of course, for all of us, the more we can do in the run-up to the shutdown to try to restrict social contact and try to restrict the spread of the virus, the better.”
Essential stores, including food sales, will remain open and officials insist there is no need to stock up.
Unlike March, schools and other educational settings will also remain open, despite SAGE’s chief adviser Jeremy Farrar cautioning that the closure might not work as well.
It comes when Boris Johnson is accused of risking lives for his delay in imposing restrictions in England.
The prime minister rejected calls from the Labor Party and SAGE last month for a short and abrupt shutdown, and a close ally even called Keir Starmer a “brazen opportunist.”
But after local restrictions failed to sufficiently reduce infections, he was forced to implement the second lockdown.
Sir Keir told the BBC today: “I am so frustrated by the incompetence of the Government.
“If what they announced yesterday had been announced when I said it should have been, two or three weeks ago, we could have had the closure and schools closed due to the natural mid-term disruption and people will wake up this morning and be thinking ‘How the hell did it get to this?’
(Image: Getty Images)
“The government was too slow in the first phase of the pandemic and now it is being too slow again and this comes at a cost.
“That is why the lockdown will last longer now.”
On Saturday, Johnson said drastic measures are now needed to avoid Sage’s grim predictions of 85,000 deaths this winter, forcing doctors to choose between saving those suffering from Covid and those suffering from other illnesses.
“No responsible PM can ignore the message of those figures. We have to be humble in front of nature,” he said.
But angry Tory advocates on Sunday pledged to fight the restrictions, accusing Johnson of giving in to his scientific advisers.
In a Sunday Telegraph article, former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith accused the prime minister of “giving in to scientific advisers.”
Sir Iain said that the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) had “lobbied” the government to make this decision, with its members “publicly lecturing” to the government.
He urged Johnson not to keep “encouraging companies to reopen only to force them to close again.”
Sir Charles Walker, vice chairman of the 1922 Committee, told the BBC: “There has to be another way to do this. If you want first world public services, you need a first world economy.”
But Johnson’s allies said the prime minister was shocked by the apocalyptic predictions of the government’s SAGE scientific advisory committee and would stare at the conservative rebels.
“It’s a choice between acting now or the NHS being overwhelmed, causing unimaginable pain, if they don’t understand that they can explain it to their constituents,” a senior Johnson Conservative ally told MIrror.
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