LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s third blockade of COVID-19 began on Tuesday, with the government calling for a last major national effort to defeat the spread of a virus that infected an estimated 50 people before mass vaccinations changed the tide. .
Finance Minister Rishi Sunak announces a new £ 4.6bn ($ 6.2bn) package of business grants to help keep people afloat and jobs afloat until the measures are gradually relaxed, at the earliest from mid-February, but probably later.
The UK was among the countries hardest hit by COVID-19, with the second highest death toll in Europe and an economy that suffered the strongest contraction in any of the Group of Seven during the first wave of infections in the spring. last.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the latest data show that 2% of the population is currently infected – more than a million people in England.
“When everyone looks at the position, people understand overwhelmingly that we have no choice,” he told a news conference.
More than 1.3 million people in the UK have already received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccination, but this is not enough to have an impact on transmission yet.
Johnson announced the new blockade late Monday, saying the new highly contagious variant of coronavirus, first identified in the UK, is spreading so fast that the National Health Service risks being overwhelmed within 21 days.
In England alone, about 27,000 people are in hospital with COVID, 40% more than in the first peak in April, the number of infections is expected to increase even more after increased socialization during Christmas.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 75,000 people have died in the United Kingdom within 28 days of testing positive for coronavirus, according to official figures. The number of new daily infections rose to 60,000 on Tuesday for the first time.
A Savanta-ComRes poll conducted immediately after Johnson’s address suggested that four out of five adults in England supported the blockade.
“I definitely think it was the right decision to make,” said 28-year-old Kaitlin Colucci from London. “I just hope everyone doesn’t struggle too much with the fact that they have to be inside again.”
Downing Street said Johnson canceled a visit to India later this month to focus on the virus response, and Buckingham Palace canceled its traditional summer garden parties this year.
COWS ARE KEY
Under the new rules in England, schools are closed to most students, people should work from home if possible, and all hospitality and non-essential shops are closed. The semi-autonomous directors of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have imposed similar measures.
As infection rates rise across Europe, other countries are reducing public life. Germany is set to extend its strict blockade by the end of the month, and Italy will maintain national restrictions this weekend, relaxing the borders during the week.
Sunak’s latest package of grants adds to £ 280 billion of support from the British government already announced for this financial year to prevent a total economic collapse.
It is possible that the new blockade will cause a reduction in the economy, although not as much as in the first blockade last spring. JP Morgan economist Allan Monks said the economy was expected to decline by 2.5% in the first quarter of 2021 – compared to almost 20% in the second quarter of 2020.
To end the deadlock, the government is setting its hopes on vaccines. It aims to vaccinate all residents of nursing homes and their carers, all those over the age of 70, all health and social care workers, and all those who are extremely vulnerable from a clinical point of view. until mid-February.
But senior minister Michael Gove called for caution as to when this could translate into a reduction in restrictions.
“We will be able to review the progress we made on February 15 … and we hope that we will be able to progressively lift the restrictions after that, but what I can’t do is predict, no one can accurately predict what we will be able to relax and when, “he told Sky News.
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Additional reporting by Sarah Young, Michael Holden, Andy Bruce, William Schomberg, Ben Makori and William James; written by Estelle Shirbon; edited by Guy Faulconbridge, Raissa Kasolowsky and Jonathan Oatis