To control a resurgence of Coronavirus in the United Kingdom, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is going to announce stricter lockdown measures across England on Wednesday.
The new lockdown rules will be implemented from Monday, 14th September, and put a restriction on the social gathering of more than six people. People who violate the restrictions will be fined.
The cases of Coronavirus infection has increased all over the country recently.
In August daily cases were around 1,000 and the affected were mostly the young people. In September though, the number of cases rose tremendously. On Sunday, September 6th, 2,988 cases were reported, on Monday it was 2,948, and on Tuesday it was around 2,460.
The government has availed widespread testing and the number of people in hospitals has decreased. But due to the sudden increase in the number of infections, the government is concerned that the outbreak might again intensify over time.
The Prime Minister has said in the statement that they need to act fast to stop the infection from spreading.
The new social distancing rules have been simplified and strengthened, making it easier for people to understand and police to enforce.
The earlier social distancing rules allowed the social gathering of up to 30 people at a time.
Schools and workplaces do not come under the new rules and social gatherings like weddings, funerals, and organized team sports will enjoy some exemptions.
Britain suffered more than any other European country in terms of both financial damage and human life loss and Prime Minister Johnson faced vast criticism for his role containing the outbreak.
Johnson and his ministers spend the last week convincing people to return to work to avoid a severe economic decline in town and city centers, and now these new social distancing rules nullify their effort on so many levels.
Dr. Jonathan Van-Tam, the government’s deputy chief medical officer said that people have relaxed over the summer thinking the virus has gone away, but the recent increase in infections proves it has not.
He said that the new rise in the infection is limited mostly between youngsters aged from 17 to 21. He is mostly concerned about a ‘more general and creeping geographic trend’ across the country.
The resurgence of Coronavirus cases comes along with the news of AstraZeneca pausing their third phase of the human trial for a potential vaccine that they have been developing teaming up with the University of Oxford, for the virus after one participant experience ‘unexplained illness’ due to side effects.
The spokesperson of the company, Michele Meixell explained in an emailed statement that the company voluntarily halted the vaccination after their standard review process was triggered and they are in the process of reviewing safety data by an independent committee.
The University of Oxford joined forces with the British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to develop a vaccine for COVID-19 on various sites.
