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London Mayor Sadiq Khan is reportedly pushing for new coronavirus restrictions to be imposed in the capital on Monday, including a 10pm curfew.
City Hall sources said the city was catching up to disease hotspots in the North West and North East of England, which have been put under new controls.
While data from just a few days ago suggested that London was two weeks behind those areas, the latest model seen by Khan was said to show that the gap had closed at two to three days.
The mayor is now urging ministers to extend the latest regional restrictions, which include ordering bars and restaurants to close at 10 p.m., to cover the capital as well.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan is reportedly pushing for new coronavirus restrictions to be imposed in the capital on Monday, including a curfew in bars at 10 p.m.
A source at the mayor’s office told HuffPost: ‘It is clear that the cases in London are only moving in one direction, we are now only a few days from the tipping points in the North West and North East. We cannot afford any further delays.
“Introducing new measures now will help slow the spread of the virus and potentially avoid the need for a more complete lockdown as we saw in March, which could seriously damage the economy once again.”
He is also said to be studying the possibility of asking those who can work from home to do so.
Such a move would be in stark contrast to the government, which until recently has been urging people to return to their offices following the easing of lockdown restrictions.
It comes as people in England who reject a self-isolation order will face fines of up to £ 10,000, the government warned amid growing concern over the sharp rise in coronavirus infections.
In a significant tightening of regulations, ministers will impose a new legal duty on people to isolate themselves if they test positive for the disease or if the NHS Test and Trace tells them to do so after coming into contact with someone with the virus. .
People queue outside a coronavirus testing center offering walk-ins in north London last week
Those with lower incomes who face a loss of income as a result of going into quarantine will be eligible for a one-time maintenance payment of £ 500 to help them cope financially.
With new cases of infection doubling every week, Boris Johnson said measures were necessary to control the spread of the virus and protect the most vulnerable from infection.
Yet they are likely to alarm some Conservative MPs already concerned about the wide powers ministers are taking to curb the disease with little or no debate in Parliament.
The new regulations will go into effect in England on September 28, although ministers are discussing with the delegated administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland the possibility of extending them to the entire United Kingdom.
It follows a warning from Professor Neil Ferguson of Imperial College London, whose model led to the original national shutdown, that authorities had to act “sooner rather than later” if they were to avoid a return to infection rates from last March.
Ministers are still considering new restrictions, including a temporary two to three week “circuit breaker” in an attempt to break the transmission chain.
The move could see pubs and restaurants closed or face a 10 p.m. curfew, while socializing between households could be banned.
On Friday, the Prime Minister acknowledged that the much-feared second wave of the pandemic affecting countries such as France and Spain had reached Britain and that more cases of the disease were “unavoidable”.
Announcing the new rules, Johnson said: “The best way to combat this virus is for everyone to follow the rules and isolate themselves if they are at risk of transmitting the coronavirus.
“And lest anyone underestimate how important this is, the new regulations will mean that you are legally bound to do so if you have the virus or if NHS Test and Trace has asked you to.”
“People who choose to ignore the rules will face significant fines. We need to do everything we can to control the spread of this virus, prevent the most vulnerable from being infected, protect the NHS and save lives.”
Fines will initially start at £ 1,000 and increase to £ 10,000 for repeat offenders and for “the most serious offenses”, including those preventing others from self-isolating, such as an employer requiring a staff member to enter to work in violation of an order.
The sanctions are in line with those for people who do not self-quarantine for 14 days after returning to the UK from a country that is not on the list of low-risk nations.
Officials said that NHS Test and Trace would be in regular contact with people who were told to isolate themselves and that they would report any suspicions that the people are not complying with police and local authorities.
Police will also verify compliance at Covid-19 hotspots and among groups considered “high risk”, as well as follow up on reports from members of the public about individuals who tested positive but who they did not isolate themselves.
Prosecutions could continue in cases of “notorious and egregious” non-compliance.
As with other coronavirus rules, there will be specific exemptions for those who need to escape illness or harm during isolation and for those who require care.
Authorities said just under four million people with benefits in England would be eligible for support payments if they lose income as a result of not being able to work.
For Labor, Shadow Chancellor Anneliese Dodds welcomed the “late” announcement of additional financial assistance.
“It shouldn’t have been months for the penny to finally drop that low-income people needed more help,” he said.
The latest announcement comes just days after the “rule of six”, which bans social gatherings of more than six people, came into effect and will be seen as further evidence of concern in Whitehall over the rate of spread of the illness.
On Friday, the government announced tough new restrictions would be imposed across much of North West England, West Yorkshire and the Midlands.
It means that by Tuesday, when the measures go into effect, around 13.5 million people in the UK will be living under some form of additional coronavirus checks.
Professor Ferguson said the country was caught in a “perfect storm” following the easing of lockdown restrictions over the summer, and that swift action was needed to stop the virus from spreading out of control.
“Right now we are at the infection levels we were seeing in this country at the end of February,” he told BBC Radio 4 Today.
“If we leave it for another two or four weeks, we will go back to the levels that we saw more like mid-March. That is clearly going to cause deaths because people will be hospitalized.
“I think some additional measures are likely to be needed sooner rather than later.”
