The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
PM orders total UK lockdown
ACTION: Travel ban and only essential trips from home allowed
Boris Johnson placed Britain on total lockdown last night after efforts to bring the coronavirus outbreak under control through social distancing failed.
Travel bans and a block on people leaving their homes unless it is essential will be put in place.
The prime minister was speaking after the government issued advice urging all Britons to return home from overseas while they still could, as the Covid-19 death toll rose to 14 in Scotland and 335 Uk-wide.
Addressing the nation, Mr Johnson thanked huge numbers of people for complying with government advice, but added: “The time has now come for us all to do more.
“From this evening I must give the British people a very simple instruction – you must stay at home.
“Because the critical thing we must do is stop the disease spreading between households.”
Boris Johnson put Britain on a total lockdown last night after efforts to get the coronavirus outbreak under control stalled.
The prime minister announced the government will be enforcing tougher restrictions, such as travel bans, after advice on social distancing was not followed.
Over the weekend huge numbers flocked to parks, beaches and markets, causing anger in Downing Street.
Mr Johnson, speaking from Number 10 last night, announced that people would now only be able to leave their homes if they were shopping for basic necessities, exercising, providing care or travelling to and from work, but only where this is “absolutely necessary and cannot be done from home”.
To ensure compliance with the instruction to stay at home, the UK Government will be closing all shops selling non-essential goods, including clothing and electronic stores and other premises including libraries, playgrounds and outdoor gyms, and places of worship.
The government will also stop all gatherings of more than two people in public – excluding people you live with – and stop all social events, including weddings, baptisms and other ceremonies, but excluding funerals.
The prime minister said: “I must give the British people a very simple instruction – you must stay at home, because the critical thing we must do is stop the disease spreading between households.
“You should not be meeting friends. If your friends ask you to meet, you should say no.
“You should not be meeting family members who do not live in your home.
“You should not be going shopping except for essentials like food and medicine – and you should do this as little as you can. And use food delivery services where you can.
“If you don’t follow the rules the police will have the powers to enforce them, including through fines and dispersing gatherings.”
The unprecedented instructions came as it was announced the UK death toll had reached 335.
A further 46 people have died in England since Sunday – aged between 47 and 105 and all with underlying health conditions – while there were four deaths in Scotland and four in Wales.
There have been 83,945 tests to date, with 6,650 confirmed cases.
NHS in England has announced it has identified 1.5 million of the most at-risk people, while there are 200,000 in Scotland, 70,000 in Wales and 40,000 in Northern Ireland.
Meanwhile, the British Olympic Association said Great Britain will not send a team to Tokyo 2020 if the spread of coronavirus continues as predicted.
Boris Johnson has been reluctant to impose formal restrictions on our everyday lives, instead preferring to advise and encourage us not to congregate in groups and latterly telling pubs, bars and restaurants to close “as soon as they reasonably can”.
The unease at imposing a lockdown, like that in place in varying degrees across the continent, speaks to Mr Johnson’s deeply held liberal beliefs about the role of the state and what it means to be British.
Yet the voices demanding this, both inside and outside government, have been getting louder and louder and many feel the government needs to act now if we are even to keep the death toll to Italian levels.
The government’s original scientific estimates, based largely on Chinese data, were reasonable at the time but turned out to be wrong.
It became clear 10 days ago that the picture from Italy was far worse and that cases were doubling every three days, not every five.
Mr Johnson could do well to remember that the first duty of any government is to protect the lives of its citizens when he mulls over further action in the weeks ahead.
It became clear 10 days ago that the picture from Italy was far worse...