Coronavirus: UK plans mass gathering ban, emergency laws
The UK government is planning to scale up its fight against the coronavirus outbreak, with a ban on mass gatherings expected by next week as well as emergency laws to give police the power to detain infected people. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson held another emergency meeting at 10 Downing Street in London on Saturday to discuss further steps within the government’s current “delay” strategy to manage the peak of the cases further down during warmer months.
A total of 11 people have died as a result of COVID-19, the disease from the virus, with a total number of cases in the UK now 820. A newborn baby and its mother tested positive for the coronavirus in England, making it the youngest case to be recorded in the country.
Downing Street has indicated that it is preparing to stop large public events, including sports fixtures and concerts, to alleviate the pressure on police and the ambulance service. It did not specify what size of event would be affected, and the timing of the clampdown has yet to be decided, but it is expected to come into force in a week’s time.
It means iconic events such as Wimbledon and Glastonbury Festival could all be axed, with some other big events such as the London Marathon next month as well as all Premier League football fixtures already being cancelled.
Emergency legislation, which ministers intend to push through Parliament in the coming days, will equip the police forces and other agencies to deal with the outbreak and also compensate organisations hit by the widespread cancellations of events.
On Thursday, despite formally moving to the delay stage of the coronavirus action plan and declaring coronavirus as the “worst public health crisis for a generation”, Johnson had stopped short of calling for mass events to be cancelled or schools to be closed based on advice from his top scientific advisers.
Sir Patrick Vallance, the UK’s Chief Scientific Adviser, had defended the stance amid criticism of the strategy, saying the latest advice for those with high temperature or cough to self-isolate for a week would have the "biggest impact".
The scientist said that closing schools was a "very effective way of dealing with pandemic flu" but with coronavirus the role of children is less clear in terms of spreading the disease and therefore the government’s approach was directed at creating a "herd immunity in the UK".
Further government guidance was unveiled on Friday to cover a variety of scenarios relating to care homes because the elderly and those with underlying health conditions are much more likely to develop serious complications.
“Public safety is my top priority and we are clear people in care should follow the same tried and tested protocols everyone else is following. These include good hand hygiene and self-isolating where necessary, allowing our fantastic care workforce to keep them well,” said UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
However, with a continuing rise in the number of cases, further stringent steps are expected, even as Spain became the latest European country to go into complete lockdown.
Jet2 planes heading to Spain from the UK were turned around in mid-air as the airline cancelled all flights to the mainland, Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands because of coronavirus.
The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has warned governments not to “just let this fire burn” as he urged people to avoid large social gatherings.
French President Emmanuel Macron has announced that world leaders will hold an emergency G7 video-conference summit on Monday.
“We will coordinate research efforts on a vaccine and treatments, and work on an economic and financial response,” he said.
Global stock markets rallied on Friday after their worst day since the 1987 crash, on hopes that economic policymakers might deliver a coordinated response.
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