A woman walks past a closed souvenir stall and government messages on a telephone box in Oxford Street in London.
Photographer: Chris J. Ratcliffe / Bloomberg
Photographer: Chris J. Ratcliffe / Bloomberg
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pointed out to England that the national virus lockout will continue for another six weeks, with schools remaining closed and new border quarantine rules coming into effect.
A day after the UK death toll was 100,000, Johnson said the government would review the impact of pandemic measures and the effectiveness of the vaccination program in mid-February.
But the shortest restrictions could start easing and schools reopening fully is March 8, he said, and some rules will be tightened.
In an effort to prevent dangerous mutant strains of the virus from entering the UK, a new ten-day hotel quarantine measures will be imposed on all passengers arriving from hot spot regions such as South America, South Africa and Portugal.
“Everyone longs to know how long we have to endure these restrictions, with all their consequences for work, livelihoods and most tragically of all, the life chances of our children,” Johnson told lawmakers Wednesday. “We will not last a day longer than necessary, but we also cannot relax too soon.”
Removal of lock
Johnson turned down a call from Steve Brine of Tory to consider opening some schools before March 8. “It’s about as fast as we think we can go with caution,” the prime minister told parliament. Although the exclusion appears to restrict the spread of infections, ‘we do not yet have enough data to know exactly how soon it will be safe to reopen our society and economy,’ he said.
The UK is in its third national exclusion three weeks since the pandemic began almost a year ago, with tens of millions of workers ordered to stay at home and close retail and hospitality businesses. Since then, the government has committed nearly £ 300 billion in emergency aid to the economy.
Over the past few weeks, Johnson’s government has focused on continuing a mass vaccination program aimed at providing shots to the 15 million most vulnerable people and caregivers by February 15. Once the goal has been achieved, ministers will consider whether and how restrictions can be easily eased.
Johnson said the UK was “very confident” in receiving its supplies from Oxford /AstraZeneca vaccine, amid ongoing row between the company and the European Union over the delivery of its shots.
Vaccination provided
The vaccine “is still being produced in increasing quantities in the UK” and it will “accelerate”, Johnson said at a televised press conference.
Despite the closures and stimulus measures, the UK suffered the fifth highest death toll in the world and the heaviest economic hit of any group of seven countries.
Britain recorded another 1,725 deaths on Wednesday – compared to the daily average of 1,242 deaths – and more than one million people in the country were infected with the disease, said Patrick Vallance, chief scientific adviser.
“We remain in a dangerous situation,” Johnson said. The spread of a more contagious and potentially deadly new virus strain, first found in south-east England, set back the government’s ambitions to reopen the economy in the spring, he said.
New variants
Other tribes have been identified in Brazil and South Africa and ministers have debated border measures, including the quarantine of all hotel arrivals. Finally, Johnson announced a more limited policy aimed at arrivals from specific countries who are at greatest risk of carrying a new variant of the disease.
‘To reduce the risk posed by UK citizens and residents returning from these countries, I can announce that we will require all incoming persons who cannot be denied access, 10 days without exception, to isolate themselves in accommodation as by hotels. , ”The prime minister told the House of Commons. “They will be met at the airport and transported directly in quarantine.”
Additional police will also be stationed in ports and airports to prevent Britons from leaving the UK to go on holiday or for any other non-essential reason, Home Secretary Priti Patel said. “Anyone who does not have a valid reason to travel will be ordered to return home,” she told parliament.
Johnson, who has been criticized for being slow to act on the whole pandemic, said the government would review the exclusion and implementation of vaccines in mid-February and envisage a plan to ease the restrictions in the week of February 22 to publish.
“We have one of the highest death rates in the world,” said Keir Starmer, leader of the UK’s largest opposition party. ‘The truth is, it was not inevitable, it was not just an accident. This is due to a large number of mistakes by the Prime Minister during the pandemic. ”
(Vaccination details updates, death dates begin in ninth paragraph)