UK clamps down to fight virus, but confusion still reigns

Confusion rippled through Britain Tuesday, a day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered a three-week halt to all n-essential activity to fight spre of new coronavirus.

Streets were empty but some subways were full. Hairdressers were closed but construction sites were open. Divorced parents wondered wher ir children could continue to see m both.

government has ordered most stores to close, banned garings of three or more people who don’t live toger and told everyone apart from essential workers to leave home only to buy food and medicines or to exercise.

“You must stay at home,” Johnson said in a somber dress to nation on Monday evening.

But photos showed crowded trains on some London subway lines Tuesday morning amid confusion about who was still allowed to go to work.

Julia Harris, a London nurse, said her morning train to work was full.

“I worry for my health more on my commute than actually being in hospital,” she said.

Sporting goods chain Sports Direct said its shops would remain open, arguing that selling exercise equipment was an essential service. It reversed course after an outcry from public and officials.

Many building sites remained open, with construction workers among those crowding onto early-morning subways.

Electrician Dan Dobson said construction workers felt “angry and unprotected,” but felt y h to keep working.

“ne of m want to go to work, everyone is worried about taking it home to ir families,” he said. “But y still have bills to pay, y still have rent to pay, y still have to buy food.”

British Treasury chief Rishi Sunak defended keeping construction sites open, insisting it could be done safely.

But London Mayor Siq Khan tweeted: “I cant say this more strongly: we must stop all n-essential use of public transport w. Employers: please support your staff to work from home unless it’s absolutely necessary. Igring se rules means more lives lost.”

Many families were also confused by new rules.

After Johnson said people should t mingle outside of ir household units, separated parents asked wher ir children could still travel between ir homes. In a series of television and rio interviews, Cabinet minister Michael Gove initially said children should t move between households, before clarifying that it was permitted.

restrictions are most draconian ever imposed by a British government in peacetime. But y don’t go as far as lockdowns in Italy and France, where people need a document authorizing ir movements.

government said police would have powers to break up illegal garings and fine people who flout rules. But some expressed doubts about wher lockdown could be enforced.

Britain has lost thousands of police officers during a dece of public spending cuts by Conservative-led governments. Johnson has promised to recruit 20,000 more police officers, but those efforts are still in early sts. Unlike some or European countries, Britons do t carry ID cards, ar factor complicating enforcement efforts.

“re is way really that police can enforce this using powers. It has got to be because public hugely support it,” Peter Fahy, former chief constable of Greater Manchester Police, told BBC.

For most people, new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever or coughing. But for some, especially older ults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. Hospitals in Italy and Spain have been overwhelmed by critically ill.

Britain has recorded 6,650 coronavirus cases and 335 deaths. Intensive care departments in London, hardest-hit city, are being inundated with COVID-19 patients. Johnson warned that National Health Service could be overwhelmed within weeks unless people took lockdown seriously.

Critics say British authorities have acted too slowly to avert an Italy-scale crisis. Schools were closed less than a week ago, and pubs and restaurants were only shuttered on Friday.

Andrea Collins, Senior Clinical Lecturer in Respiratory Medicine at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, said new restrictions were welcome but didn’t go far eugh.

“ ‘absolutely’ necessary to go to work is still being used by some when it is t required — I think we need permits across controlled areas to go to a workplace,” she said. “Home working is hard for many but it is possible, we just need to apt to a new way of being.”

(AP Photo)