police forces are warning they will take
tougher action against those who do not
comply with the coronavirus restrictions
in england and wales
the head of the national police chief's
council said there'll be more officers
on patrol to crack down on those who he
called dangerous
selfish and totally irresponsible in the
face of the current health threat
the home secretary priti patel has
thanked the majority of people for
complying with the rules
but blamed a minority who she said were
putting the health of the nation at risk
she said the current rules
are tough enough but under constant
review here's our home editor mark
easton
visitors are not welcome at the seaside
south end's beachfront car parks are
locked
peaked caps patrolling the shoreline
with people restricted
the rats are enjoying new freedoms this
tourist town
doesn't want non-locals coming for a
constitutional
they said they shouldn't be coming they
shouldn't be i define what local is for
this exercise
because i heard that concern about boris
johnson going from down street to
olympic park
so what really irritates me is i hear
minister after minister say don't go out
they don't follow it by except for your
exercise
the news that the towns hospital is
struggling to cope close to running out
of oxygen yesterday
has contributed to the sense of
emergency
most people do seem to be obeying the
rules south end looks like a place
in lockdown it feels as though the mood
has changed in the last couple of days
police say they'll be quicker to find
rule breakers there's strong public
support for tougher enforcement and
tighter
restrictions as the appeals from health
professionals
become ever more desperate we need to
really focus on
what the enforcement issues are so if
the legislation was a lot tighter
it will make it a lot easier for our
colleagues the police force to enforce
what we're asking them to do
i'm secretary we're warned we may be
facing a health service
catastrophe so why are the rules of this
lockdown
not as tough as they were last spring
the rules are actually
very simple and clear we are meant to
stay at home and only leave home
for a very very limited number of
reasons
that didn't answer the question of
course the concern is not about the
clarity of the restrictions but their
strength
pressed on the point the home secretary
later said she thinks the current rules
are tough enough with police issuing
tens of thousands of fixed penalty
notices
and fines the size of the party and the
lack of engagement from people here
you are going to probably end up with up
to a ten thousand pound fine
our successful staged enforcement
approach remains
but we will not linger on encouragement
for those who are choosing to break the
rules
the rules are clear and we need to abide
by them if we are going to protect the
nhs
and save people's lives psychologists
advising the government say getting
people to obey the rules may have
less to do with confronting law breakers
and more with a focus on those who are
following the guidance
if you tell people everybody is doing
this stop it
actually what happens is what people
hear is everybody is doing it
it begins to set a norm it tells you if
everybody else is doing it
why shouldn't i and so it undermines the
behavior
positive coveted tests in south end have
been falling in the past week
but 55 people from the town have also
died from the disease
in the last seven days what happens next
is a matter of life and death
mark easton bbc news south end
our lipstick political editor vicky
young is in westminster so the home
secretary says the rules are
tough enough but constantly under review
and i think the message from the
government is shifting this week and
there are various elements to it the
first is
trying to get across to people the
perilous state we're in particularly of
course
the rising number of deaths and the
pressure on the
nhs then they're talking about those
breaking the rules and that
suggestion there that the police will
move more quickly from just warning
people
to actually finding people really trying
to shame people into doing the right
thing
and then the third element is more
nuanced it's about personal
responsibility saying to people yes
there are lots of reasons why you can
completely legitimately
leave home but please think very
carefully about that do you really have
to order that parcel
and go and collect it do you really have
to go and see that friend
cut down on those personal contacts and
then the big question there
are these rules tough enough well no one
will know that until they see a
consistent
fall in the number of cases that's what
everyone is desperate to see but it's
also
why nobody is ruling out tighter
measures vicky thank you
the pandemic caused excess deaths in the
uk last year to rise to their highest
level
since world war ii official statistics
show
there were nearly 85 000 more deaths in
2020 than would be expected a rise of 14
percent
our health editor hugh pim has been
talking to one woman
who lost her husband at christmas he was
kind-hearted
ambitious strong and he always thought
about other people
lisa remembers her husband adrian who
died on boxing day with kovid
he was 55. he had previous health
conditions
but doctors said they were not a factor
as the virus gripped his lungs and he
passed away
in intensive care adrian is not a
statistic
he's not a number he was my husband he
was a
family son a nephew
a brother friends to many and he was
well known in our community because we
had a business as well
every coveted death is tragic for loved
ones the statistics do make bleak
reading
not least at a time of lockdown and
concerns about the spread of the virus
one measure of the overall impact of
kobit 19
is the total number of deaths from all
causes set against what might be
expected
there were close to 697 000 uk deaths in
2020
more than 84 000 above the average in
the previous five years
that's a margin of 14 percent above that
average
so how does that compare with previous
decades
well it was the highest in 75 years
and remember each year is compared with
the previous
five reflecting medical knowledge and
population health
at the time
as army personnel joined the vaccination
effort there are hopes that once enough
jabs are carried out
fewer people will become seriously ill
with kovid
but before that happens there are
warnings of more grim news to come
people who are dying now from covert 19
are people who will have been infected
well before christmas
and given that we know that cases
have been going up since the beginning
of december
we can expect to see deaths to go up as
well
for several more weeks to come
older people are most at risk the
highest number of coveted deaths in
england and wales have been among those
who are 85
and over followed by 75 and over
but lisa wants all adults to realize
they could be vulnerable
it can affect anybody i'm 45
and i was bed bound for two weeks with
it and i got through it
but adrian was 55 years of age
he was so young and we had so much still
planned and people need to take note
above all lisa says the public must know
the heartbreaking consequences
of letting the virus spread hugh pim bbc
news
the latest government figures show there
were 45
533 new coronavirus infections recorded
in the latest 24-hour period the second
fall in two days it means on average the
number of new cases reported per day in
the last week
is 55 653
across the uk an average of 32
520 people were in hospital with
coronavirus over the seven days to
sunday
one thousand two hundred and forty three
deaths were reported that's people who
died within 28 days of a positive
covid19 testament it's the second
highest figure of this whole pandemic on
average in the past week
985 deaths were announced every day
the total number of deaths so far across
the uk is 83
203 and the uk has now started a program
of mass
vaccinations 145 076 people have had
their first dose of one of the three
approved covert 19 vaccines in the
latest 24-hour period
taking the overall number of people
who've had their first jab
to more than 2.4 million
well hugh pim is with me now let's talk
about that
fall in the number of new cases how
significant is it two days in a row
yes sophie two days below fifty thousand
at the end of the last week it was up at
about
sixty thousand and the crucial seven day
rolling average with the trend that's
fallen now for three days
so could this be the first sort of
reaction to lockdown
restrictions imposed over the new year
well it's probably a little early to say
that there's a firm trend here we'll
need
a few more days of data but it is very
interesting in scotland wales and
northern ireland cases have all
fallen slightly it's the same in london
and the south east of england
only a very small fall but there have
been increases in other parts of england
particularly the north west which i
think is a concern but
hospital numbers up again the daily
death toll the second highest
on record those are all lagging
indicators they as we heard earlier
reflect cases
that were first picked up infections a
couple of weeks back and they are
likely as we've been hearing to carry on
rising for a little while yet
thank you