The first epidemic wave hit the United Kingdom with full force (42,000 official deaths); it now seems clear that the country will not escape a severe second wave, with the risk that the latter will aggravate the economic and social divisions that already undermine it.
After days of negotiations and cacophony, Boris Johnson made public, Monday, October 12, new restrictions concerning much of the north of England. “There are now more Covid-19 patients in hospitals than on March 23, when we went into confinement”, he assured from the House of Commons, adding “That we must go further [dans les restrictions] to save lives ”.
The leader confirmed the division of England into three alert levels (Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales have their own health skills and pursue autonomous strategies).
London and most of England will remain at the “medium” level for the time being: they will stick to the curfew in pubs and restaurants at 10 pm and to the “rule of six” put in place at national level in mid-September – can only assemble a maximum of six people, outdoors or indoors.
On the other hand, a large part of the Midlands and the north of England, from Nottingham to Manchester via Sheffield and Newcastle, will go into “high” alert level from October 14. Indoor meetings between different households will be banned, and it will be recommended to minimize non-essential travel and public transport.
The city of Liverpool and its region (approximately 1.5 million inhabitants) will fall into the “maximum alert” category, with the closing of pubs, cafes, gyms or leisure centers and the restriction of travel outside. of the affected areas. Manchester, Nottingham or Newcastle have escaped this semi-containment despite the fact that they have largely exceeded the threshold of 400 positive Covid-19 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
The objective of appeasing local elected officials
In support of the Prime Minister’s point, two of Downing Street’s medical advisers Jonathan Van-Tam and Steve Powis painted a grim picture of the epidemic resurgence, explaining that the number of infections had quadrupled in one month and that the disease was beginning to reach the older age groups again – and the most vulnerable. On Monday, 3,655 Covid-19 patients were hospitalized in England, 1,072 more than a week ago. Over twenty-four hours, nearly 14,000 new positive cases and fifty additional deaths were recorded.
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