The NHS will be overwhelmed within weeks without a national lockdown in England, Boris Johnson has warned, as he ordered the country to stay at home in a bid to reverse the spread of coronavirus.
The UK's Prime Minister said that without action, deaths would reach “several thousand a day”, with a “peak of mortality” worse than the country saw during the lockdown in April.
Pubs, bars, restaurants and non-essential retail across the nation will close from Thursday, and people will be told to stay at home unless they have a specific reason to leave, but schools, colleges and nurseries will remain open.
The 67 million population of the United Kingdom is living under some sort of Covid-19 restrictions, though the severity of the rules varies.
Following are details on the measures which are in place or planned for different parts of the UK after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a lockdown for England:
ENGLAND - Entire population of 56 million under lockdown from Thursday morning at one minute past midnight. It will last until Dec. 2.
The main points of the lockdown are:
- People can only leave home for specific reasons, such as education, work if it cannot be done from home, exercise and recreation outdoors - limited to people from the same household or one person from another household - medical reasons, to shop for food and essentials, or to provide care for the vulnerable;
- Schools, colleges and universities to stay open; playgrounds will also stay open;
- All pubs and restaurants will close unless they are providing deliveries;
- All non-essential retail to close;
- Elite sport will continue. Organised amateur sports for adult and children will be asked to stop;
- Places of worship will remain open for private prayer while funerals will be limited to close family members only.
SCOTLAND - 5.5 million
Limit of a maximum of six people from two households meeting; takeaways from pubs and restaurants allowed; accommodation may serve evening meals but no alcohol; weddings and funerals can continue, with alcohol served and a limit of 20 people; shops must reintroduce mitigations and 2 metre distancing with one-way systems.
Central Belt around 3.4 million people
Pubs closed (except takeaways); cafes must shut at 6 p.m.; no group exercise classes or amateur sports practice; bowling alleys, casinos, pool and bingo halls all closed.
- Covers Ayrshire & Arran; Forth Valley; Greater Glasgow & Clyde; Lanarkshire; Lothian (including Edinburgh)
From Nov. 2 each area of Scotland will be assigned one of five COVID tiers.
REST OF SCOTLAND - around 2.1 million people
Indoor hospitality must close at 6 p.m., with no sale of alcohol allowed; Outdoor premises can stay open until 10 p.m., including alcohol sales where licensed.
WALES: 3.15 million
- Two-week "fire-break" lockdown from Oct. 23 in which everybody apart from essential workers must stay at home, except for very limited purposes, such as for exercise.
NORTHERN IRELAND - 1.9 million
Northern Ireland has closed schools for two weeks and restaurants for four weeks from Oct. 16. Neighbouring Ireland has responded by tightening curbs in bordering counties.
The closure will affect the entire hospitality sector, except takeaway and delivery services, and double the length of the October school break from one week to two.
Retail will remain open, but "close contact services" such as hairdressers and beauticians will be closed.
