Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a partial lockdown for England in a bid to contain a resurgent coronavirus outbreak that’s spreading faster than the government’s worst-case projections.
The lockdown will start on Thursday, pending a vote in parliament, and last until at least early December, Johnson said on Saturday in a televised press conference. All but essential shops will close, as will restaurants and bars, though schools and universities will remain open.
The prime minister also announced that state payments will be made to furloughed workers of as much as 80% of their wages through the new lockdown period. Existing assistance measures had been due to end this weekend and be replaced by a less generous program.
“We know the cost of these restrictions, the damage that they do, the impact on jobs and livelihoods and people’s mental health,” said Johnson. “No one wants to be imposing these measures anywhere.”
“But we’ve got to be humble in the face of nature,” Johnson said. Data suggested hospitals in parts of England could run out of capacity in a matter of weeks, he said, and deaths could reach several thousands per day.
The announcement of new restrictions came on the same day as official data showed that virus cases in the U.K. since the pandemic began had surpassed 1 million.
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