South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
England enters 2nd lockdown as UK virus cases surpass 1M
LONDON — British PrimeMinister Boris Johnson on Saturday announced a new monthlong lockdownfor England after being warned that without tough action, a resurgent coronavirus outbreak will overwhelm hospitals in weeks.
On the day the U.K. passed 1 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, Johnson confirmed that stringent restrictions on business and daily life would begin Thursday and last until Dec. 2.
He said at a news conference that “no responsible prime minister” could ignore the grim figures.
“Unlesswe act, we could see deaths in this country running at several thousand a day,” said Johnson, whowas hospitalized earlier this year withCOVID-19.
Under the new restrictions, bars and restaurants can only offer takeout, nonessential shops must close and people will only be able to leave home for a short list of reasons including exercise. Activities ranging from haircuts to foreign travel must once again be put on hold.
Unlike during the U.K.’s first three-month lockdown earlier this year, schools, universities, construction sites and manufacturing businesses will stay open.
As in other European countries, virus cases in the U.K. began to climb after lockdown measures were eased in the summer and people began to return to workplaces, schools, universities and social life. The Office forNational Statistics estimated Friday that 1 in
100 people in England, well over half a million, had the virus in theweek to Oct. 23.
Johnson had hoped a set of regional restrictions introduced earlier in October would be enough to push numbers down. But government scientific advisers predict that on the outbreak’s current trajectory, demand for hospital beds will exceed capacity by the firstweek of December.
The scientists warned
COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths could soon surpass the levels seen at the outbreak’s spring peak, when daily deaths topped
1,000. The government’s chief scientific adviser, Patrick Vallance, said the mortality rate had “potential to be twice as bad, if notmore” than it was during the pandemic’s first European wave, if nothingwas done.
As European countries such as France, Germany and Belgium imposed a second lockdown amid surging caseloads, it looked inevitable that Johnson would have to follow.
Britain’s death toll from the coronavirus is 46,555, the highest in Europe according to Johns Hopkins University data.
Any new lockdown will need Parliament’s approval, and a vote is scheduled for Wednesday. The new restrictions would apply to England. Other parts of the U.K. set their own public health measures, with Wales and Northern Ireland already effectively in lockdown and Scotland under a set of tough restrictions.
Owners of businesses that have struggled to get back on their feet since the first lockdown was eased said the impact of new closures would be devastating.
“People have borrowed up to the hilt and spent money in order to get COVID-secure,” said Kate Nicholls of pub and restaurant industry group Hospitality U.K. “There is no spare capacity inthetank to be able to fund a lockdown, even for three to four weeks.”
A government program that has paid the wages of millions of furloughed employees during the pandemic was due to end Saturday, but will be extended during the new lockdown.