British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told others on Tuesday to paint from home when imaginable and ordered bars and restaurants to close early to deal with a fast-spreading momentary wave of COVID-19 with restrictions likely to last six months.
After government scientists warned that deaths can increase without urgent action, Johnson stopped before another full blockade, as he did in March, but said additional action can be taken if the disease is not suppressed.
“We reserve the right to deploy greater firepower, with much greater restrictions,” he told Parliament after an emergency with ministers and leaders of the UK’s deposed governments.
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Just weeks after urging others to return to their workplaces, Johnson pleaded with staff to stay in the house if they could, and ordered all pubs, bars, restaurants and other reception venues to close at 10 p. m. as of Thursday and only table service is allowed.
“I’m sorry it’s hurting a lot of corporations that are just recovering,” he says.
It’s unclear whether the measures would be enough to combat Britain’s momentary wave, which government scientists say could be successful at 50,000 new cases a day by mid-October, but it meant more pain for the world’s fifth-largest economy.
People at tables in front of restaurants in Soho, in the middle of the coronavirus outbreak, in London, United Kingdom (Reuters).
People in a bar after the outbreak of coronavirus disease in London (Reuters).