National Post (National Edition)
The Queen is trying to keep calm and carry on, but at nearly 94 they won’t be taking any chances. — A ROYAL SOURCE.
JOHNSON ENACTS BIGGEST CLAMPDOWN ON CIVIL LIBERTIES DURING PEACETIME
Prime Minister Boris Johnson shut down social life in Britain on Monday and it’s expected that even the Queen will do her bit — with garden parties, royal events and possibly Princess Beatrice’s upcoming wedding set to be cancelled or postponed.
Everyone in the United Kingdom must avoid visits to pubs, restaurants and “non-essential contact”, Johnson said, as he implemented the biggest restriction of civil liberties in peacetime.
In a dramatic escalation of the British government’s coronavirus response, the prime minister said all “unnecessary” travel must end, meaning all employees should work from home “if possible”. The measures may last for a “prolonged period”, possibly months. He also ordered the most vulnerable to isolate for 12 weeks,
Buckingham Palace confirmed that all royal households were studying the implications of the new advice. Trooping the Colour, the Epsom Derby and Royal Ascot are all unlikely to go ahead in June. And with the garden parties now highly unlikely to go ahead, there is mounting speculation Princess Beatrice’s wedding to Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi on May 29 may have to be postponed altogether.
“The Queen is trying to keep calm and carry on, but at nearly 94 they won’t be taking any chances,” a royal source said.
Meanwhile, around a third of the public — everyone over the age of 70, millions who are younger but suffer from health conditions, and pregnant women
— are being asked to go further from this weekend by avoiding almost all social contact.
But there was confusion among parents as the government decided against shutting schools to avoid the knock-on effects on key workers such as National Health Service (NHS) staff with children.
The government’s actions are still short of many other nations as they are officially voluntary and there are growing fears over the capacity of the NHS to cope as this country is now “accelerating up the curve” of infections.
Johnson set out the need for “drastic action” to tackle the “fast growth” of coronavirus as his medical advisers said Britain may be just three weeks behind Italy, the worst-hit country in Europe, with London further advanced than the rest of the U.K.
NEW MEASURES
❚ Whole households must isolate themselves for 14 days if any member of the family has a persistent cough or a fever. No one self-isolating should go out, “even to buy food or essentials”, other than for exercise if possible;
❚ Anyone who can work from home should do so now. Avoid pubs, clubs, theatres and other social venues, particularly if you are over 70, pregnant or have some health conditions;
❚ From this weekend those with the most serious health conditions must be “largely shielded from social contact for around 12 weeks;
❚ All mass gatherings should be cancelled and will not be supported by ambulances or emergency workers.
As the U.K. death toll rose to 53, with 1,543 confirmed cases of the virus, Johnson said: “Clearly what we’re announcing today is a very substantial change in the way that we want people to live their lives, and I can’t remember anything like it in my lifetime. I don’t think there has really been anything like it in peacetime.
“We have to accept that it is a very considerable psychological, behavioural change that we’re asking you, we’re asking the public, the nation, to do. But I have absolutely no doubt that we can do it, that we can do it together.”
Prof. Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer for England, said the country had to be prepared for restrictions to be in place for “the long haul”.
He said: “This is not ‘two weeks and we’re done’. This is a significant period of time. People should be thinking of a minimum of weeks to months and, depending how it goes, it may be longer.”
The government’s advisers said that even if the strategy worked, around 20,000 people were likely to die.
Within hours of the new advice being released, theatres began closing and the last sporting events were abandoned. However, there is growing anger among business groups over who will pay for the costs. The failure to order the closure of many hospitality venues means that the costs cannot be claimed on insurance.
Johnson says measures to combat the virus were being significantly stepped up because “it looks as though we’re now approaching the fast growth part of the upward curve.”
“Without drastic action cases could double every five or six days,” he said.
Monday night, Johnson and Michael Gove, minister for the Cabinet Office, held a call with more than 60 manufacturers to ask for their help in making ventilators for hospitals. More than 400 companies have already offered help.
THIS IS NOT ‘TWO WEEKS AND WE’RE DONE.’ THIS IS A SIGNIFICANT PERIOD OF TIME. PEOPLE SHOULD BE THINKING OF A MINIMUM OF WEEKS TO MONTHS AND, DEPENDING ON HOW IT GOES, IT MAY BE LONGER. — PROF. CHRIS WHITTY, ENGLAND’S CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER