Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
    World
    Home / World / Europe

    Britain could face localized lockdowns

    By JULIAN SHEA?in London | China Daily Global | Updated: 2020-06-29 03:35
    Share
    Share - WeChat
    London streets were very quiet during lockdown. Simon Dawson / REUTERS

    British Home Secretary Priti Patel has confirmed that the English city of Leicester may become the first place in the United Kingdom to be the subject of a localized lockdown as the country tries to navigate its way out of restrictions on movement and activity caused by the novel coronavirus.

    Around one-quarter of the city's 2,494 confirmed cases of COVID-19 cases were reported in the two weeks leading up to June 16, and when questioned about reports in the Sunday Times newspaper about the possibility of localized restrictions, Patel said that until the results of data testing came back, it could not be ruled out.

    "I don't think that is an immediate prospect," she told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show. "After many weeks of asking, we now have that data and we are analyzing it over this weekend, and hopefully early next week we will know whether we have a problem and if we have, where it is.

    "With local flare-ups, it is right we have a local solution", she added.

    The news came on the day that Johns Hopkins University in the United States, one of the world's leading monitoring sources for the outbreak, reported that the total number of cases of COVID-19 worldwide had passed 10 million, with around 500,000 deaths confirmed so far.

    Leicester, in the East Midlands region, has a population of around 600,000 people. The city's mayor, Peter Soulsby, said it would have been "far better" if testing rates in the city had been greater.

    "Leicester is a large urban area … with many neighborhoods and communities within it ... It's only really if we know whether there is an issue, and where it might be, we can decide what if anything we need to do," he said.

    The city is one of the most ethnically diverse in the country, and the member of Parliament for Leicester East, Claudia Webbe said this, combined with poverty and positive test numbers, had created a "perfect storm" for measures to be put in place.

    "I don't know why they're not enforcing a lockdown - the evidence suggests there should be one," she said.

    Nick Phin, incident director for Public Health England, said what was happening in Leicester was "concerning" and that specific action might be necessary. "We understand that tighter restrictions in Leicester will be difficult," he said, "but it's important that we all play our part to contain this local outbreak".

    Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she felt "enormous" relief on Sunday as for the third day in a row, the country recorded no new coronavirus deaths, but overall, the UK's total death toll now stands at 43,550.

    News of the first potential local lockdown in the UK came as police were called in to deal with more large public gatherings in South London.

    Dispersal zones were put in place at Clapham Common and Tooting Bec Common after illegal street parties caused what police described as "significant disruptions" on Saturday night.

    "These events are unlawful, they are unregulated and we will take a very firm position against them," said Metropolitan Police Commander Bas Javid.

    Police and Crime Commissioner for the West Midlands David Jamieson told the Observer newspaper that the potential for public disorder around the loosening of lockdown has been "brushed away" by Home Office Minister Kit Malthouse at a meeting last week.

    "The issue was raised and it is total madness, we all know it's madness. Some of his (Malthouse's) Conservative colleagues raised it as well, particularly those on the coast," he said.

    Another warning of the potential long-term consequences of lockdown has come from the education sector, with the former head of the government's schools inspectorate Michael Wilshaw telling Sky News that mishandling of the situation could lead to violence.

    "The consequences for youngsters, particularly those from poor backgrounds, the consequences for our society and for our education system is going to be profound, and we need to recognize that," he said.

    "Everyone involved in education needs to recognize that and put in large-scale recovery and remedial programmes to make sure that the great gains that we've made over the last few years are not lost.

    "If that doesn't happen then we will go backwards. And there will be all sorts of problems in terms of social unrest, violence amongst young people that we've not seen before."

    Meanwhile, a week before the blanket ban on non-essential travel from the UK is to be relaxed, travel companies say they have experienced an "explosion" in bookings for overseas trips.

    Andrew Flintham, managing director of TUI UK and Ireland, said bookings had gone up 50 percent over the course of a week, with Spain and Greece the most popular destinations, while Lastminute.com said its holiday sales had risen by 80 percent.

    The list of permitted destinations for UK visitors to visit without the need for quarantine also includes France, Italy, the Netherlands, Finland, Belgium, Turkey and Germany, but not Sweden or Portugal.

    Most Viewed in 24 Hours
    Top
    BACK TO THE TOP
    English
    Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
    License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

    Registration Number: 130349
    FOLLOW US
    日韩精品无码中文字幕一区二区| 最新中文字幕在线观看| 日韩精品中文字幕第2页| 人妻中文字系列无码专区| 日本中文字幕网站| 亚洲成A人片在线观看中文| 久久亚洲AV成人出白浆无码国产| 久久无码中文字幕东京热| 久久久无码人妻精品无码| 国产成人亚洲综合无码| 精品无码一区二区三区亚洲桃色| 久久久中文字幕日本| 乱人伦中文无码视频在线观看| 精品欧洲AV无码一区二区男男 | 黄桃AV无码免费一区二区三区 | 波多野结衣中文字幕免费视频| 东京热加勒比无码少妇| 无码人妻精品一区二区三区夜夜嗨| 精品人妻无码专区中文字幕| 日韩成人无码中文字幕 | 人妻丰满熟妇AV无码片| 精品深夜AV无码一区二区老年| 中文字幕在线免费观看| 日本公妇在线观看中文版| 无码人妻久久一区二区三区蜜桃 | a亚洲欧美中文日韩在线v日本| 亚洲中文字幕一二三四区苍井空| 国产精品va无码一区二区 | heyzo专区无码综合| 精品成在人线AV无码免费看| 国产精品无码午夜福利| 无码日韩人妻精品久久蜜桃| 无码专区久久综合久中文字幕| 在线欧美天码中文字幕| 日韩三级中文字幕| 亚洲欧美日韩中文字幕一区二区三区 | 亚洲日本中文字幕一区二区三区| 欧美日韩中文在线视免费观看| 免费a级毛片无码| 伊人久久一区二区三区无码| 人妻无码人妻有码中文字幕|