Boris Johnson imposes nationwide lockdown over coronavirus

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has imposed an unprecedented three-week nationwide lockdown across the United Kingdom in an attempt to bring a halt to the coronavirus outbreak.

All British households have been told to stay at home except for a strictly limited set of purposes - with police having powers to enforce the instructions with fines.

Shops selling non-essential goods have been ordered to close, along with libraries, playgrounds and outdoor gyms, and places of worship.

Weddings, baptisms, and other ceremonies are being stopped, but funerals will continue to go ahead.

And all public gatherings of more than two people - except for members of the same household - will be banned.

From Monday evening, people will only be allowed to leave their homes for:

- One exercise outing a day - for example a run, walk or cycle;

- Medical needs or caring for a vulnerable person;

- Travelling to and from work, but only if this is absolutely necessary and cannot be done from home.

The new measures came after the UK death toll from COVID-19 reached 335, with a further 46 people who tested positive for the virus dying in England, and foreign secretary Dominic Raab told all Britons overseas to come home now.

They mean the UK following countries like Italy, Spain and France into stringent restrictions on day-to-day life to suppress the virus, after weeks in which Britain has maintained a lighter-touch approach based on voluntary rather than mandatory actions.

Mr Johnson’s decision to step up action, agreed at a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee in Whitehall, came amid widespread concern over large numbers of people congregating at parks, beaches and outdoor markets over the weekend.

In a televised address to the nation recorded in 10 Downing Street, Johnson said: “In this fight we can be in no doubt that each and every one of us is directly enlisted.

“Each and every one of us is now obliged to join together, to halt the spread of this disease, to protect our NHS and to save many many thousands of lives.

“And I know that, as they have in the past so many times, the people of this country will rise to that challenge.

“And we will come through it stronger than ever.

“We will beat the coronavirus and we will beat it together.

“And therefore I urge you at this moment of national emergency to stay at home, protect our NHS and save lives.”

Source: The Independent 

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