england's four-week lockdown could last
longer than its scheduled end date of
december the second
the cabinet minister michael gove said
ministers will be guided by the facts
and that the government wanted to get
the coronavirus reproduction rate
below the critical level of one the new
measures which come into force
on thursday include the requirement to
stay at home only leaving for specific
reasons such as
work or education outdoor exercise is
encouraged but you can only meet up to
exercise with one person
outside your household there's no
household mixing
indoors or in private gardens unless
part of a support bubble
and pubs restaurants are non-essential
shops will have to close
we'll have more on all the measures and
their implications shortly but first
here's our political correspondent
jonathan blake
a round of golf while it's still allowed
here in hertfordshire only the minimum
restrictions are currently in place
but like the rest of england people are
now preparing for a new
national lockdown i think it's
frustrating here because the cases
aren't
that bad and we have all been you know
following the rules that we were given
so while people may not agree with it
we've got to stick with it so it's a bit
frustrating yes but um
rules are rules the lock down is due to
last until the second of december but a
senior government minister said that was
a hope
not a guarantee and left open the option
of restrictions staying in place for
longer
if we ensure that all the steps that
we're taking now are taken appropriately
we'll have an opportunity in advance of
december the second
to review the progress that we're making
and in advance of december the second
we can then communicate to those areas
where some restrictions may be required
what they will be and also other areas
where we've we've managed to beat back
the virus we can explain where liberties
can be restored
labour say they'll support the plan but
their leader is adamant
it should have happened sooner if what
they announced yesterday
had been announced when i said it should
have been two or three weeks ago we
could have
had the lockdown and schools shut
because of the natural break of half
term
and people will be waking up this
morning and thinking how on earth
did it get to this the government has to
keep its side of the bargain here
because
if they don't use this time to fix test
trace and isolate
then i think the second of december will
be a review date not an
end date with labour's support the
national lockdown
is likely to pass a vote in parliament
later this week but some conservatives
are dead against it
the senior tory back bencher sir graeme
brady has told the bbc
this repetitive cycle of lockdowns is
immensely damaging to people's
livelihoods
and causing a huge toll he and others
are unlikely to be able to stop the
government's plans
but they are speaking out in the
strongest terms
there's concern too about where the
lockdown leads one scientist advising
the government said a return to regional
restrictions
is unrealistic what mustn't happen is
whenever that date comes second of
december or a little bit later
that suddenly the world goes back to
normal it's not going to go back to
normal immediately
i think it will be at least what is
currently called tier three
or tier tier three plus um across the
country
i i don't think it makes sense to go
back into regional variation
in the restrictions that are in place
immediately after this set of more
draconian
measures are lifted in scotland a new
five-tier system of regional
restrictions comes into force tomorrow
wales is midway through a month-long
fire break lockdown
and slightly looser restrictions are in
place across northern ireland
[Music]
police said up to 700 people attended
this illegal rave near bristol last
night
openly breaking the rules already in
place but this week will bring new
limitations for everyone in england
as the government's last resort becomes
a reality
jonathan blake bbc news i'm joined by
our deputy political editor vicky young
vicki a busy last
24 hours and a busy week ahead well yes
and you think about
uh the foreign secretary seems like a
long time ago that he was on the tv
saying that it would be desperately
unfair to go for a national lockdown
well that was just two days ago and it
does show how suddenly the government
abandoned this
local approach and has gone for what
boris johnson called the nuclear option
now politically this is extremely
problematic for him partly
the warnings were there from the
scientists quite some time ago and of
course the labour leader called
for just this kind of approach but he's
also got a problem with some of his own
mps the prime minister has to go to
parliament
at least twice this week asking for
their support some of them as we've
heard
extremely unhappy about all of this on
libertarian grounds
one senior mp calling it something like
a totalitarian
state they're also worried about an exit
strategy and so what michael gove
said there is not going to help the idea
that it's a
hope that all this ends on the 2nd of
december and lots of people fearing that
for many
millions maybe in england it could go on
for a lot longer than that but there is
another concern
and that's about the decision-making in
downing street the way that this
really important decision tumbled out in
quite a chaotic way
they're worried that it makes it look
like they are incompetent as one
minister put it to me
he said we all know that the virus is
hard to control but the government has
to be able to control
its own message at this time vicky thank
you very much
the latest government figures show there
were 23
254 new coronavirus infections recorded
in the latest 24-hour period that means
that the average number of new cases
reported per day in the last week
is now 23 0016.
162 deaths were reported that's people
who died within 28 days of a positive
covid19 test
it means on average in the past week 260
deaths were announced
every day it takes the total number of
deaths so far across the uk
to 46 717.
this latest lockdown has been prompted
by the recent rises in infection rates
but what are the other key indicators
which would allow restrictions to be
eased here's our health correspondent
lauren moss
from thursday the message in england
will once again be stay home
to save lives non-essential shops and
hospitality will close
schools and universities will stay open
the prime minister has said the measures
are to prevent a medical disaster
of the nhs being overwhelmed well i
think the prime minister had no choice
but to act
on very clear evidence that the
trajectory of hospital
admissions uh demand of the health
service was such
that we just would have been overwhelmed
in the coming weeks to the point that
it wouldn't just be a case of not
managing the surge
in patients with covet but actually the
nhs would not have been able to provide
services to large numbers of non-covered
patients
are more than 9 000 people with covid in
english hospitals
some including those in liverpool
lancashire and nottinghamshire
are treating more coronavirus patients
now than during the peak in the first
wave
getting the reproduction number of the
virus below one is crucial
anything above that means it's spreading
in september scientists looked at the
effect different interventions could
have on the r number which is thought to
be around 1.2 at the minute
a full lockdown like we had in march
that included schools closing would have
the biggest impact
it's thought the measures introduced in
the spring reduced the r by around 75
percent
they estimated closing pubs restaurants
bars and cafes would have a moderate
impact on transmission bringing our down
by around 0.1
to 0.2 and they also considered the
closure of non-essential retail and
found that on its own this would have a
minimal impact
there is a level of uncertainty around
these figures and they're based on data
before cases reach the severity they're
at now
but it's hoped the measures being
introduced will bring that r number down
lockdown isn't a long-term solution
though
you have to use it as an opportunity
to improve the test trace and isolation
and that's
that is a that is an exit strategy and
until we get mass testing
up and running with fast turnarounds and
it's the fast turnaround
there's no use having a system that
waits five days for a test result to
come
because you can't get ahead of the of
the virus
the prime minister has promised that a
rollout of rapid testing which will give
results within 15 minutes
is imminent care has also advanced since
march the sickest patients can now be
treated with the steroid dexamethasone
and some nightingale hospitals are on
standby
many hopes are pinned on a vaccine with
scientists predicting positive results
by the end of the year
until then reducing the spread of the
virus and limiting its effect
are the only ways of indicating how long
this latest lockdown will last
lauren moss bbc news