UK set to quarantine elderly citizens amid Coronavirus outbreak

The UK is set to quarantine all its citizens who are aged above 70 for up to four months, country’s Health Secretary Matt Hancock reportedly said. While talking to a British media outlet, Hancock revealed that isolating the elderly was “clearly in the action plan.” This comes as the infected cases rose to 1,140 and claimed 21 lives across Britain. While talking to international media, he confirmed that the measure will certainly take place in the coming weeks. He added that Coronavirus was a big risk to the elderly and vulnerable adding that it was for their self-protection. 

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Local elections postponed 

This comes as the British government decided to postpone the local elections after the Election Commission’s request due to the evolving situation of Coronavirus. The United Kingdom has reported 802 cases of coronavirus and confirmed 11 deaths due to the pandemic. The Election Commission (EC) wrote to the government on March 12 highlighting the impact of Coronavirus on the polls scheduled in May and requested to delay it. “In light of the current and emerging situation around COVID-19 in the UK, I wanted to write to set out the Commission’s concerns about the real risks to the successful delivery of the scheduled May 7, 2020 elections,” wrote Bob Posner, Chief Executive. 

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Posner said that the Commission has been in close contact with key stakeholders across the electoral community to assess the risk of holding the local elections in May. The Chief Executive of EC warned that the risks are significant and raise serious concerns about continuing the polls as per the timetable. “Clearly any decisions to delay elections which are due is significant and would not normally be desirable; however, we are in unprecedented times,” said Posner.

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(with inputs from agencies)