UK began this Tuesday, January 5, 2021, its third national confinement by the covid-19, which could last until March. The order of the authorities was that the citizens stay at home as a last great effort to stop virus before vaccinations turn the tide of the pandemic.
Since midnight on Tuesday, the country is once again subjected to harsh restrictions, which include the school closings, with which it is intended to contain the pandemic, increasingly uncontrolled by the new variant of the virus.
The United Kingdom is among the countries most affected by covid-19, with the second highest death toll in Europe and one economyit suffered the sharpest contraction of all those in the Group of Seven during the first wave of infections last March.
The first Minister Boris Johnson announced Monday night the new lockdown, saying that the new variant of highly contagious coronavirus first identified in the UK was spreading so fast that the National Health Service (NHS) was at risk of being overwhelmed in 21 days.
A poll after Johnson’s speech suggests that four in five adults in England support the shutdown.
—
Few people walk the streets during the first day of the new confinement in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, this January 5, 2021. Photo: EFE
–
–
He Ministry of Health reported on Tuesday that another 60,916 new cases of covid were registered in the United Kingdom, the highest number of daily infections recorded since the pandemic broke out in March, with 830 deaths in the last 24 hours. Since the beginning of the crisis, 82,624 deaths related to the disease have been recorded.
In this confinement only essential businesses will be able to function. In order to protect businesses impacted by the tightening of controls, the British Minister of Economy, Rishi Sunakannounced a new package of financial aid valued at 4.5 billion pounds (about USD 6 054 million).
In a statement, the minister explained that companies in the hospitality, retail and leisure sectors will be able to request these packages, up to a maximum of 9,000 pounds (USD 12,119) per business.
In total, 600,000 companies across the country will be beneficiaries of the new subsidies.
Sunak He stressed that the financial injection “will help businesses get through the months ahead and help sustain jobs, so that workers can be ready to return when they are ready to reopen,” he said.
British begin new national lockdown with stay-at-home orders
Boris Johnson decrees a new national confinement in England
