Photographer: Tolga Akmen / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Tolga Akmen / AFP / Getty Images
The third coronavirus blockade in the UK looks set to last as the government warned it is too early to contemplate easing restrictions.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Priti Patel did not repeat previous assurances that the UK would return to normal in April, although the mass vaccination program continued to expand until it arrived. to 5 million people.
Instead, the government’s approach focused on tightening compliance with current restrictions, amid concern that there are too many people breaking the rules, making it difficult to control the spread of the disease.
The UK considers paying people to stay home amid block breaches
Ministers are considering making payments of £ 500 ($ 683) to anyone who tests positive for Covid, in order to convince more people with symptoms to take the tests, the Guardian newspaper reported on Thursday. The policy, which would cost about £ 2bn a month, would be designed to overcome people’s fear of losing income if they were forced to self-isolate through a positive test, according to the newspaper, which cites a document dated 19 gener.
Patel announced that new police fines of £ 800 ($ 1,097) will be imposed on people caught attending house parties. When asked if the public should book a summer vacation, he said now the advice is to stay home.
“It’s too early to say or even speculate when we can lift the restrictions,” Patel said. “This country is still controlled by a pandemic.”
Summer
Earlier, Johnson was asked if the blockade could last into the summer and did not rule it out, warning only that the new strain of coronavirus is “much more contagious” and that the UK is facing “what without it will certainly be difficult a few weeks before ”.
His comments suggest a darker outlook than a few days ago, when ministers said that hope to start opening up the economy to the first fortnight of March.
Johnson is under pressure from members of his Conservative party who are pushing for him to outline a plan to ease the closure as soon as the government meets its goal of vaccinating the 15 million most vulnerable people, a goal it wants to achieve by Feb. 15. .
The UK suffered its worst day of the pandemic on Wednesday, with more than 1,800 deaths recorded in 24 hours, as Boris Johnson’s top scientific adviser warned that some hospitals now look like “a war zone”. Laura Wright reports.
“Vaccinations, of course, will provide immunity to Covid, but they must also provide immunity from blockages and restrictions,” Conservative lawmaker Mark Harper, chairman of the party’s so-called Covid Recovery Group, said in a statement. “This cycle of blockages and restrictions causes immense damage.”
Rules
Shops, restaurants and schools are closed and people have been asked to stay home unless absolutely necessary. Restrictions threaten to push the economy into another recession, after suffering the worst decline in three centuries.
The decentralized government of Northern Ireland announced an extension of the closure of the region until 5 March.
The latest data from the UK showed that 1,290 people died from Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 95,829, the highest number of deaths in Europe. This month has had a succession of records of both new cases and daily deaths.
Read more: Why mutated coronavirus variants are so worrisome: QuickTake
Patel said that while most people are obeying in the rules, some show “irresponsible behavior” that poses “a significant threat to public health.”
Fines for attending parties will be doubled for each new offense up to a maximum penalty of £ 6,400, he said. Party organizers have already faced fines of £ 10,000.
Read more: UK now administers more than 5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine
The new enforcement action will apply to all meetings of more than 15 people discovered by police, as ministers are tougher on blocking restrictions.
Vin Diwakar, medical director of the London National Health Service, said the UK was facing its biggest public health crisis since World War II and compared the breach of the rules by organizing or attending big parties in ” turn on a light in the middle of an off “at the Blitz.”
“It doesn’t just put you at risk at home,” he said. “It puts the whole street and the whole community at risk.”
(Put the £ 500 payments for personal isolation in the fourth paragraph)