The British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, warned that he could tighten the coronavirus blockade if people do not follow the rules, because his government has supported a more severe application.
Any “satisfaction” with the disease is being replaced, Johnson said, even though an immunization program is in full swing and 2.2 million people have been shot so far.
But he risked undermining his own appeal to the public to stay home and act responsibly when it turned out he took a 7-mile bike ride to London on Sunday.
“It simply came to our notice then sense that things are not being done properly, then we may have to do more, “Johnson said during a visit to a vaccination center at a sports stadium in Bristol, south-west England, on Monday. “Race against time,” with the country at a “very dangerous time,” as infection rates rise, he said.
The UK is facing the worst period of the pandemic, with hospital admissions at 22% a week, at over 32,000, and the death toll now being over 80,000. Last week, Johnson announced a third national blockade, a move that threatens to push Britain into another recession and offset the damage of the first blockade, which caused the deepest contraction in 300 years.
The vaccination program is the key to economic recovery, Tax Chancellor Rishi Sunak told lawmakers on Monday.
The government aims to start relaxing restrictions after February 15, the target date until Johnson wants all 15 million of the most vulnerable people and their caregivers to be given at least one dose of immunization.
Even though the UK is well ahead of other European countries in launching vaccines, a new, more contagious variant of the disease is pushing the health service to the brink. Medical advisers and officials are increasingly concerned that the public is not following the rules and that hospitals will soon be overwhelmed.
Bike ride
Johnson said the blocking rules must be properly applied in grocery stores and urged people to think carefully before leaving home for any reason. Hospitals are under intense pressure due to an increase in cases of Covid-19, with short oxygen supplies in some areas, he said.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said everyone shares responsibility for enforcing the rules and praised the Wm Morrison Supermarkets Plc chain of stores for saying it would refuse entry to anyone without a mask without a specific exemption.
“I am pleased that the police are stepping up their enforcement, but it’s not just about the government and the rules we’ve set, or the police and the work they do, it’s about how everyone behaves,” he said. him at a press conference. “I welcome the action that Morrisons has taken today,” he said. “This is the right approach.”
The prime minister’s office faced questions about its own action after London’s Evening Standard reported that Johnson was seen cycling around the Olympic Park, 7 miles east of his official residence, at about 2 p.m. Sunday. Official government guidelines allow people to leave their homes for exercise, but recommend that people stay in “their local area.”
Why the Coronavirus moved from the UK: QuickTake
Hancock said long bike rides and 7-mile rides are allowed according to the rules.
But the episode threatens to rekindle a behavior on the behavior of Johnson’s former aide, Dominic Cummings, who was accused of breaking the blockade rules last spring, driving more than 250 miles outside London, when the country was told to stay. the home. Johnson’s office did not immediately respond to requests to comment on his trip.
In other developments:
- Sunak warns the country’s third blockade, which began last week, means “the economy will get worse before it improves”
- NHS says full impact of relaxing Christmas rules has not yet been seen in terms of rates
- 40% of those over 80 have had at least one vaccine, with a total of 2.6 million vaccines delivered so far
- The government has released its vaccine delivery plan, promising to vaccinate tens of millions of people by spring, with “at least” 2 million injections each week in more than 2,700 vaccination sites in the UK.
– With the assistance of Stuart Biggs, Alex Morales, Joe Mayes and Deirdre Hipwell