Wales locks down as cases spike
Some businesses must stay closed two weeks
LONDON — Wales became the second nation in the United Kingdom to lock down large swaths of its economy to combat rising coronavirus infections, even as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday resisted loud calls to do the same throughout England.
Wales’ First Minister Mark Drakeford said Monday administration was backing a short, sharp “firebreak” to slow the spread of COVID-19.
All nonessential retail, leisure, hospitality and tourism businesses will close for two weeks beginning at 6 p.m. Friday — a lockdown similar in scope to the U.k.-wide measures imposed in March.
“This is the moment to come together to play our part in a common endeavor to do everything we can together to protect the (National Health Service) and to save lives,” Drakeford said.
Authorities across the U.K. are imposing new restrictions on business and social interactions as COVID-19 infections rise throughout all age groups and parts of the country, filling hospital beds and intensive care wards.
One of their main goals is to reduce the strain on the NHS ahead of the winter flu season.
Public health experts say a lockdown can help reset the pandemic at a lower level, giving doctors time to treat the ill and providing breathing room for the government to improve its response.
Britain has the deadliest coronavirus outbreak in Europe, with over 43,700 confirmed deaths.
Drakeford said the Welsh lockdown will definitely end Nov. 9.
“The benefit will be seen in the weeks that follow,” Drakeford said.
Northern Ireland has already ordered schools to close for the next two weeks, banned most social gatherings and shut down many businesses including bars and restaurants for a month.
The Welsh decision came as officials in greater Manchester continue to reject efforts by Johnson’s Conservative government to move the region into the highest level of restrictions in the three-tier system Johnson unveiled for England a week ago
While the government’s scientific advisers have recommended a short national lockdown, Johnson says his tiered, regional approach limits the economic and social damage from the pandemic on areas where infection rates are lower.
Johnson’s government said the talks with authorities in Manchester must be completed urgently because the public health situation is deteriorating, but local officials were holding out for more financial assistance for those hurt by the restrictions.
“Disappointingly, we have still not been able to reach an agreement,” the British government said Monday in a statement. It said it was “carefully considering next steps.”
Johnson’s government has threatened to impose the measures unilaterally if an agreement can’t be reached.
In other developments:
The head of emergencies at the World Health Organization said Asia’s “follow-through” in the fight against COVID-19 and its popula
tions’ greater trust in and compliance with their governments have given the continent a leg up against the coronavirus.
■ The city-state of Dubai is allowing weddings and major social events to resume at halls, hotels and homes after a months-long ban.
■ South Korea on Monday began testing tens of thousands of employees of hospitals and nursing homes to prevent COVID-19 outbreaks at live-in facilities.
■ Poland’s government is transforming the National Stadium in Warsaw into a field hospital to handle the surging number of patients infecting with the coronavirus.
■ Milan’s La Scala theater said Monday that the cast of “Aida” has been put under quarantine after two members tested positive for coronavirus. It is the first change in program due to positive tests at the Italian venue, one of Europe’s premiere opera houses.
■ Lithuanians voted Monday in the second round of their national election, some of them in cars casting ballots in special drive-in polling stations amid a spike in COVID-19.
■ Serbia’s army has reopened a makeshift hospital inside the main sports arena in the capital, Belgrade, in response to the increasing number of COVID-19 patients.