Photographer: Tolga Akmen / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Tolga Akmen / AFP / Getty Images
The third coronavirus blockade in the UK looks set to last, as the government has warned that it is too early to contemplate easing restrictions.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Interior Secretary Priti Patel have not repeated previous assurances that the UK will be returning to normal in April, even as the mass vaccination program continues to expand to reach 5 million people .
Instead, the government’s focus has shifted to enforcing current restrictions, amid concerns that many people are still breaking the rules, making it more difficult to control the spread of the disease.
UK considers paying people to stay home amid violations of blockade
Ministers are considering making payments of £ 500 ($ 683) to anyone who has tested positive for Covid, in order to persuade more people with symptoms to report for the test, the Guardian newspaper reported on Thursday. The policy, which would cost about £ 2 billion a month, would be designed to overcome people’s fear of losing income if forced to isolate themselves by a positive test, the newspaper said, citing a document dated Jan. 19.
Patel announced that new £ 800 ($ 1,097) police fines will be imposed on people caught at house parties. When asked whether the public should book summer holidays, she said the advice now is to stay home.
“It is too early to say or even speculate when we can lift the restrictions,” said Patel. “This country remains in the grip of a pandemic.”
summer
Johnson was previously asked whether the blockade could last until the summer and has not ruled it out, warning only that the new coronavirus strain is “much more contagious” and that the UK faces “what will unquestionably be difficult a few weeks earlier.”
His comments suggest a darker outlook than just a few days ago, when ministers said that hope to start opening up the economy in the first half of March.
Johnson is under pressure from members of his Conservative Party, who are pressing him to outline a plan to ease the blockade as soon as the government meets its goal of vaccinating the 15 million most vulnerable people, a goal he hopes to achieve by February 15. .
The UK suffered its worst pandemic day on Wednesday, with more than 1,800 deaths recorded in 24 hours, as Boris Johnson’s chief scientific adviser warned that some hospitals now look like “a war zone”. Laura Wright reports.
“Vaccination will certainly bring Covid immunity, but it should also bring immunity from blocking and restraint,” conservative lawmaker Mark Harper, the party’s president, called Covid Recovery Group, said in a statement. “This cycle of blockages and restrictions causes immense damage.”
Rules
Shops, restaurants and schools are closed and people were told to stay at home unless absolutely necessary. The restrictions threaten to push the economy into another recession after suffering its worst decline in three centuries.
The delegated government of Northern Ireland announced an extension of the region’s blockade until March 5.
The latest UK data showed that 1,290 people died from Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 95,829, the highest death toll in Europe. There was a succession of records this month of new cases and daily deaths.
Read more: Why Mutant Coronavirus variants are so worrying: QuickTake
Patel said that although most people are obsessedlooking the rules, some are exhibiting “irresponsible behavior” that represents “a significant threat to public health.”
Party attendance fines will double for each new violation, reaching a maximum fine of £ 6,400, she said. Party organizers have already faced fines of £ 10,000.
Read more: The UK has given more than 5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine
The new crackdown will apply to any meetings of more than 15 people discovered by the police, as ministers become stricter with blocking-breaking restrictions.
Vin Diwakar, the medical director of the National Health Service in London, said the UK is facing its biggest public health crisis since World War II and compared breaking the rules by hosting or attending big parties to “turning on the light in the middle of a blackout at the Blitz. “
“It doesn’t just put you at risk in your home,” he said. “It puts your entire street and your entire community at risk.”
(Raises £ 500 self-isolation payments for fourth paragraph)