The British government announced on Monday that it will tighten containment in Leicester due to an outbreak of new coronavirus in this city in central England, the first to be subject to local restrictions. "Non-essential" businesses, which reopened in mid-June in England, will have to close again from Tuesday and schools by Thursday, said Health Minister Matt Hancock in the House of Commons. He said the measures would be reassessed in two weeks.
"An important tool in our arsenal"
"We have to control this virus. We have to keep people safe. These actions are also deeply in the national interest", he said while the deconfinement must have a major stage Saturday in England with the reopening of pubs , restaurants, hotels and hairdressers. "Local actions like these are an important tool in our arsenal to deal with epidemics as we get the country back on its feet."
"We cannot recommend an easing of the confinement on July 4 in Leicester," he insisted, calling on the 340,000 residents of the city to stay at home "as much as possible". Nearly 3,000 cases have been recorded in Leicester since the start of the epidemic in March, including 866 in the past two weeks, according to local authorities.
The deconfinement, a challenge for Boris Johnson
By announcing the gradual lifting of containment, the government had warned that it could put in place local restrictions, depending on the situation, to contain a new uncontrolled wave of contamination. "The main thing is to ensure that we are ready to act in the event of local outbreaks," Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Times Radio on Monday.
The easing of the confinement is a delicate moment for the conservative leader, already very criticized for his management of the pandemic, which left 43,575 dead in the United Kingdom, the most affected country in Europe.
A thousand people test positive every day and some critical voices have expressed concern about a dangerous return to normal.