London to move to tighter restrictions in secondwave battle

LONDON: The UK capital will enter a tighter Covid19 lockdown from noon today (NZ time) as Prime Minister Boris Johnson seeks to tackle a swiftly accelerating second coronavirus wave.

The virus is spreading in most parts of Britain, for which the official death toll of 43,155 is the highest in Europe.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said London, which has a population of 9 million, as well as the adjacent, heavily populated county of Essex, would be put on ‘‘high’’ alert level, up from ‘‘medium’’, at one minute past midnight on Friday (local time).

The main impact of the move to ‘‘high’’ is that people cannot meet other households socially indoors in any setting. Travel should be reduced where possible, Hancock said.

Manchester, in the north of England and one of Britain’s largest cities, had been tipped to be moved to ‘‘very high’’ alert from ‘‘high’’, but Hancock said no decision had yet been made.

In a show of defiance, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said he was unwilling to impose a local lockdown that would sacrifice swathes of the city’s economy without proper financial support from central Government.

‘‘They are willing to sacrifice jobs and businesses here to try and save them elsewhere,’’ Burnham said. ‘‘The north is fed up of being pushed around.’’

US Covid19 cases crossed 8 million yesterday, rising by 1 million in less than a month, as another surge in cases hits the nation at the onset of cooler weather.

The US reported 60,000 new infections on Thursday, the highest since August 14, with rising cases in every region, especially the Midwest.

Health experts have long warned colder temperatures driving people inside could promote the spread of the virus.

According to a Reuters analysis, 25 states have so far set records for increases in new cases in October.

The risk of exposure to Covid19 on flights is very low, a US Department of Defence study released yesterday found.

When a seated passenger is wearing a mask, an average 0.003% of air particles within the breathing zone around a person's head are infectious, even when every seat is occupied, it found.

The study, conducted aboard Boeing 777 and 767 aircraft, showed about 99.99% of particles were filtered out of the cabin within 6 minutes due to fast air circulation, downward air ventilation and the filtration systems on the aircraft.

It estimated that to receive an infectious dose, a passenger would need to fly 54 hours on a plane with an infectious person.