Pubs, gyms, cinemas told to close doors
UNITED KINGDOM
LONDON • All of Britain’s pubs, restaurants, cafés, cinemas and gyms were ordered to close Friday night as Prime Minister Boris Johnson introduced the most draconian measures yet “to keep people apart” in an attempt to halt the surge of coronavirus.
In a televised announcement, the prime minister waged war on “unnecessary social gatherings” admitting the steps were “extraordinary” but critical to save thousands of lives.
The closure of not only pubs and bars but also leisure centres, theatres, nightclubs, museums and galleries went far further than had previously been thought and underlies the crisis engulfing the country.
The government had been relying on the public to voluntarily curtail nights out but the speed of the spread of coronavirus prompted the most severe intervention to date.
Johnson said the target was to reduce social gatherings by 75 per cent to reduce the impact of the pandemic and ease pressure on the National Health Service.
He said authorities could use existing licensing laws to enforce the ban but said he expected venues to carry out closures without being strong-armed into doing so. Emergency legislation, to be introduced later in the week, would however give the government further powers if pubs and clubs tried to flout the lockdown.
Johnson stopped short of ordering the shut down of “non-essential” shops, such as clothing stores but sources have suggested such closures could take place in London by early next week. He also declined to introduce travel restrictions but there is anxiety that they could follow.
Johnson said: “I accept that what we’re doing is extraordinary — we’re taking away the ancient inalienable right of freeborn people of the United Kingdom to go to the pub. And I can understand how people feel about that.
“But I say to people who do go against the very clear advice that we’re getting from our medical and scientific experts, you know you’re not only putting your own life, the lives of your family, at risk — you’re endangering the community. And you’re making it more difficult for us to get on and protect the NHS and save lives.
“And if you comply, if people comply as I say, then we will not only save lives, thousands of lives, but we’ll come out of this thing all the faster.” Johnson said that “our eventual recovery depends entirely on our collective ability to get on top of the virus now” and “that means … we need now to push down further on that curve of transmission between us”.
He said the measures would be reviewed monthly but in reality compulsory nights in for Britain’s 67 million people is now the new norm.