Pubs, restaurants, theaters, cinemas and gyms are closed indefinitely in the UK. Prime Minister Boris Johnson decided on Friday March 20 to end all social life in the UK, asking his compatriots to stay at home and calling for the closure of these gathering places in order to stem the spread. of the new coronavirus.

The country, which has so far identified 3,983 cases of contamination and 177 deaths linked to Covid-19, thus follows the example of several other European countries more severely affected, notably Italy, Spain and France.

While this official assessment of the pandemic is based on tests carried out on around 67,000 people, government scientific advisers believe that Covid-19 is spreading very quickly in London, in particular because part of the inhabitants of the capital do not follow the advice on self-isolation.

The pub, "inalienable right"

The Prime Minister said he understood how difficult it was for his compatriots to give up going to the pub, a social practice deeply rooted in the culture of the country, but he considered this measure essential to fight the epidemic.

"I accept the fact that what we are doing is extraordinary: we are depriving UK-born citizens of their ancient and inalienable right to go to the pub and I can understand what people are feeling," said Boris. Johnson. "It's a deep tear."

Measures to support businesses

The British Minister of Finance has presented a series of measures intended to mitigate the economic impact of this health crisis for households and businesses.

The most spectacular measure announced by Rishi Sunak will see the state provide money to companies to enable them to pay wages and thus try to avoid a spike in unemployment caused by the freezing of activity in many sectors.

Businesses will also be allowed not to return 30 billion pounds (nearly 33 billion euros) of VAT to the state over the next three months to help them save cash.

With Reuters

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