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
    亚洲AV无码资源在线观看| 中文字幕无码久久精品青草 | 日本精品中文字幕| 人妻系列无码专区无码中出| 最近中文字幕精彩视频| 精品久久久久久无码人妻蜜桃| 国产AⅤ无码专区亚洲AV| 婷婷综合久久中文字幕蜜桃三电影| 丰满熟妇乱又伦在线无码视频| 精品无码免费专区毛片| 中文字幕视频一区| 精品久久久久久中文字幕大豆网| 日木av无码专区亚洲av毛片| 久久精品无码一区二区WWW| 国产精品中文字幕在线观看| 影院无码人妻精品一区二区| 精品无码AV无码免费专区| 亚洲人成无码网站在线观看| 日本无码小泬粉嫩精品图| 最近中文字幕在线| 成人精品一区二区三区中文字幕| 无码精品人妻一区二区三区免费| 国产无遮挡无码视频免费软件| 亚洲av永久无码精品古装片| 久久午夜夜伦鲁鲁片免费无码影视 | 无码中文字幕日韩专区| 少妇人妻偷人精品无码视频新浪| 久久亚洲精品无码VA大香大香| 亚洲日韩中文字幕日韩在线| 久久亚洲中文字幕精品一区| 最近中文国语字幕在线播放| 日本精品中文字幕| 中文精品久久久久国产网址| 精品久久久无码人妻中文字幕豆芽 | 最近中文字幕在线| 最近中文字幕完整版免费高清| 亚洲成a人片在线观看中文动漫 | 狠狠精品久久久无码中文字幕| 日韩精品久久无码中文字幕| 天堂√中文最新版在线下载| 久久中文字幕人妻丝袜|