LONDON – A new national blockade in England would likely have to last more than the expected 4 weeks if coronavirus infection rates do not drop sufficiently, a senior government minister said Sunday.
The closure announced through Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday will run from Thursday to December 2. Johnson says it’s to keep hospitals from getting hit by COVID-19 patients in a matter of weeks.
Minister Michael Gove said the government was “very happy” that the closure would end on time, but that may be guaranteed.
“With such a clever virus and your ability to move so fast, it would be foolish to wait with absolute certainty what will happen in 4 weeks,” he told Sky News. “Let’s take a look at it on December 2nd, we’re still motivated by what knowledge says. “
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Under the new restrictions, bars and restaurants can only offer takeout, non-essential retail outlets must close and others will only be able to leave their homes for a short list of reasons, in addition to working out: beauty salons, gyms, golf. Fields, swimming pools and bowling alleys are among the places they want to close and holidays are prohibited.
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Unlike the first three-month blockade of coronavirus in the UK before this year, schools, universities, structure sites and production corporations will open.
Britain has the worst death toll from the virus in Europe, with more than 46,700 deaths, exceeding one million coronavirus cases on Saturday and showing 23,254 new infections on Sunday.
As in other European countries, cases of viruses in the UK began to increase after closing measures calmed down this summer and others began to return to work, schools, universities and social life. , specifically in Belgium, czech Republic, France, Spain and the United Kingdom.
Johnson hoped that regional restrictions introduced in October, basically in northern England, would be sufficient to reduce the number of new infections, but government scientific advisers hope that hospital beds will be requested in the current trajectory of the epidemic. exceed capacity during the first week of December, even if traffic hospitals are restored.
“If we don’t act, we may see deaths in this country several thousand a day,” Johnson said, uttering the lockout at a televised news convention saturday night.
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But from pubs, restaurants, theaters, and gyms, everyone says the measures will be devastating.
A government program that paid the salaries of millions of licensed painters for the pandemic prolonged the new lockdown. Many corporations say this is not enough, especially in the arts, where other people fully paint as self-employed.
Mark Davyd, managing director of the Music Venue Trust, suggested the government provide more money to the live events industry, as has been done in France and Germany.
“We look to ministers’ urgent main points about the monetary package that will affect businesses and livelihoods in this world-leading major British industry,” he said.
London police faced protesters as they interrupted a demonstration in Trafalgar Square opposed to COVID-19 restrictions amid rising tensions over the high limits of life as the government tries to stop a sharp increase in infections.
Also on Sunday, the government and Transport for London reached an agreement to keep buses and the subway running in the capital, where the number of passengers has plummeted due to the pandemic. The $1. 8 billion ($2. 3 billion) mix of grants and loans is completed to maintain the operating formula until the end of March.
Under the new restrictions, places of worship would possibly remain open for personal prayer and funerals, but not for network services. This provoked complaints from England’s two leading Catholic clerics, Cardinal Vincent Nichols and Archbishop Malcolm McMahon, who said the suspension would cause distress. “
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“Religious communities have played an important role in maintaining personal, non-secular and intellectual aptitude and in promoting important charitable activities,” the pandemic said. “This essential service for the non-unusual intelligents of all is created and supported through the Adoration network. “
The new blockade must be approved in Parliament and a vote is expected on Wednesday. Some members of Johnson’s conservative oppose stricter restrictions because of the economic damage they inflict, however, the main Labour opposition has said he will vote for the new blockade.
The restrictions will apply to England. Other parts of the UK are regulating their own public aptitude measures, with Wales and Northern Ireland already well blocked and Scotland with a set of strict regional restrictions.