Inhuman or not, four days later, Johnson did the same. An increase in coronavirus cases in southeastern and eastern England, including London, prompted the Prime Minister to declare strict imprisonment and to prohibit the meeting of residents of various residences over Christmas.
The measure affects more than 20 million people in England and in Wales.
In announcing its decision, the government linked the increase in cases to the circulation of a new version of coronovirus, which would have 70% more infectious power. Despite this, it is not yet known whether this is the case – further studies should be conducted to assess whether this statement is true or not.
The declaration had a domino effect – many countries, one after the other, announced a ban on entry of travelers from the United Kingdom to their territories. The list is growing: France, Germany, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Turkey, Canada, Russia, many others. Overall, more than 40. It seems like the islands of Britain, England, Scotland and Wales are closed. Virtually no one leaves.
VIDEO: Coronavirus version is up to 70% more infectious in England; Understand
The decision is anticipated by the population with Brexit as a sense of claustrophobia, with Britain out of the European Union.
The transition period ends on 31 December and so far, ten days before the deadline, the parties have not yet reached a commercial agreement. Brexit will be “without a deal” to tariffs and border controls for goods traveling between the UK and the EU, potentially damaging to the local economy.
Due to the deadlock in trade negotiations and the closure of borders due to an epidemic, political leaders such as the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, have demanded more time for an agreement to extend the Brexit transition period to the Prime Minister. The possibility was rejected by the government.
Without Christmas, without the possibility of leaving the island and the post-Brexit agreement, winter could be long and dark for the British.
This was not the case suddenly.
In March, the British government began to counter the epidemic by placing bets on “herd vaccination”. The idea was that if a large proportion of the population became infected, they would develop collective immunity against the virus, even though it was not known how long the immunity of those who contracted the virus would remain.
At the time, while European countries had already adopted strict containment measures, the Johnson-led country remained open.
But when a mathematical model presented by Imperial College in London gave a bleak picture that, with this strategy, 250,000 people could die, the British government took a turn toward lockdown. For experts, it was late.
Today, the UK has the highest number of Kovid-19 deaths per capita in the world. A total of 67,616 deaths out of a population of 66 million, i.e. 102 deaths per 100 thousand inhabitants.
With the second wave of coronovirus infection beginning in the second half of the year, the government established a “level” for each region.
And on 31 October, Johnson announced a month-long lockdown until 2 December. This time, schools and universities will be open.
After the second lockdown, various areas of the United Kingdom reopened with different levels of sanctions. For example, London was at level 2 of 4 overall. At this level of restriction, stores, gyms and hairdressers may open. Groups of six can be found in open spaces including home gardens.
A week later, an increase in coronavirus cases in the British capital was already evident.
Michael Tildesley, Associate Professor of Mathematical Modeling of Infectious Diseases, says, “We had evidence a week or two ago that the lockdown was not enough to stop the progress of cases. It was already clear that more control would be needed.” BBC News Brazil. University of Warwick, UK.
Despite warnings from experts, the British government has not tightened restrictions. Meanwhile, the population was already planning for Christmas, as regulations authorized the celebration among residents of three different homes.
This Sunday (20), the country registered 37 thousand new cases of Kovid-19, more than double the number reported last Sunday.
And Johnson took another turn of plans.
“It makes sense that the government wanted people to be allowed to see their families on Christmas later that year. But Johnson should have been honest with the public that there was no guarantee of any discount on Christmas, that it would The state depended on the situation. The situation with the virus. Instead, they gave false guarantees and encouraged families to make plans that, for many, would no longer come, “The Guardian in the harsh editorial of the Prime Minister’s plans he said.
For Tildesley, if he wanted to authorize meetings on Christmas, the government should have restricted the population from early December until the eve of the holiday. Instead, since 2 December, people have returned to their homes, to shop, to meet friends, among others.
“Cases were at a lower level, but still increasing. The level of restriction was not sufficient.”
“The government has prohibited the celebration of Christmas when families had already planned and ordered food. Many people who live alone do not have time to make other plans, which can improve their mental health. Can affect, ”the professor noted.
The coronovirus variant, for its part, was first discovered in September. In November, about a quarter of cases in London were caused by this new version. Around two-thirds of cases increased in mid-December.
But there is still a lot of uncertainty about its proliferation capacity – and whether it played a role in the increase in cases in England, Tildesley says. He says that we cannot explicitly say that the increase was caused only by the new version.
“It may have been a role, but we also know that the areas where the cases had increased in the country were with fewer due diligence restrictions. In addition, other factors may have contributed, such as many small. Going to shop in period. Time, “he says.
For Tildesley, since the onset of the epidemic, the British government had problems with communication with the public during the crisis. The announcement about the new version shouldn’t have been linked to the Christmas cancellation, he says, because it made the subject “emotional” when it shouldn’t have been that way.
