Published 13:50 IST, November 5th 2020
COVID-19: England enters four-week lockdown amid second wave surge
I am not prepared to take the risk with the lives of the British people," PM Boris Johnson said as the second wave of COVID-19 surge hit across the UK.
Advertisement
Due to a surge in cases amid the second COVID-19 wave, UK’s government has imposed a four-week lockdown in England, effective November 5. Under the new restrictions in order to stem the dread of the fast-rising trajectory of the COVID-19 cases, the citizens were advised to stay at home as all non-essential businesses, shops, pubs and gyms were shut down. Assuring the citizens, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a live-streamed conference that the lockdown will end ‘automatically’ in a month.
On November 4, the UK parliament voted for a lockdown in England with 516 to 39, a majority of 477, the BBC reported. The MPs decided to replace the three-tier regional restriction previously imposed and impose a statewide lockdown to bring the fast-spreading virus under control. Speaking ahead of the parliamentary vote UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a live-streamed address that the data he has presented and the worrying projections by the scientists and experts at UK's National Health Service (NHS) predict that UK’s healthcare systems would collapse and deaths could potentially exceed those recorded in the March and early April when the first wave hit the UK. Some hospitals are "already higher than at the peak of the first wave,” Johnson informed, adding, that the figures are “confronting”.
From tomorrow national restrictions will apply in England until 2 December.
— Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) November 4, 2020
You must stay at home, with a limited set of exemptions.
Find out more ▶️ https://t.co/jZcQqKISec pic.twitter.com/pJYsCLunvx
Starting tomorrow, national restrictions will apply.
— Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) November 4, 2020
You must stay at home, with a limited set of exemptions.
These measures will apply in England until 2 December. After this, we will look to return to a local approach, based on the latest data.
More▶️ https://t.co/jZcQqL0t5K pic.twitter.com/LSB9uxqzGT
'I am not prepared' PM Johnson said
“When I look at what is happening now amongst some of our continental friends and see doctors who have tested positive being ordered, alas, to work on Covid wards, and patients airlifted to hospitals in some other countries simply to make space, I can reach only one conclusion: I am not prepared to take the risk with the lives of the British people," Johnson said in an address streamed online as UK recorded the second-largest daily spike with 25,177 new infections within 24 hours and 492 fatalities. Meanwhile, according to the NHS’s estimates, the hospitalizations in the UK rose to an alarming 12,320. According to WHO, Europe has suddenly recorded a spike of 43 percent in deaths and a 22 percent surge in the COVID-19 caseload.
In this country, as across much of Europe, the virus is spreading even faster than the reasonable worst case scenario of our scientific advisers.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) October 31, 2020
If we fail to take action, then there is a real risk of depriving non-Covid patients of the care that they need from the NHS (1/10)
We must take action now to protect our NHS. In England, from Thursday until the start of December, you must stay at home.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) October 31, 2020
Non-essential shops, leisure & entertainment venues will be closed. Pubs, bars & restaurants must close except for takeaway and delivery services. (2/10)
13:51 IST, November 5th 2020