Johnson Plans "Short Circuit" with New Restrictions in Northern England to Curb Coronavirus

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Boris Johnson

plans to "short-circuit" severe restrictions in various parts of northern England, where an estimated 6,000 coronavirus infections are occurring a day, nearly double the number detected nationally, amid the political scandal. fueled by the chaotic and ineffective testing and tracking system.

Johnson himself acknowledged that the system is having "huge problems", while the head, Dido Harding, acknowledged in Parliament that the demand for tests among the population is between three and four times higher than the maximum capacity (240,000 daily tests) and that

.

Dozens of centers have reached the brink of collapse this week and 90% of the results have not been available within 24 hours.

The chaos of the Covid test system has forced the reinforcement of preventive measures, with

that already affect more than 10 million Britons, while the Government considers again forcing the

or the imposition of "touches curfew "at ten o'clock at night from next week.

Health Secretary

did not even rule out the possibility of a new

"as the last line of defense."

"We are at a very important time with an acceleration in the number of cases," Hancock warned.

"The number of people hospitalized is doubling every eight days and the effect is beginning to be felt in health centers."

"The strategy is to keep the virus as low as we can and

" Hancock said.

"We will do everything possible to avoid the ordeal that we have on the horizon until we have the vaccine, the treatments and the massive tests. Frankly, that country has done more in this regard than any other in the world."

"In an ideal world, almost instantaneous tests would have to be available to all who require them," admitted Boris Johnson, who just a few days ago announced "Operation Shot to the Moon" with fanfare (" Moonshoot ") to run millions of tests daily.

"But we do not have enough capacity and many people are deeply frustrated," acknowledged the "premier".

The new goal is to reach at least

The number of daily infections detected on Thursday was 3,991.

The United Kingdom is already the third country with the highest infection rate in Europe (59.3 per 100,000 inhabitants) after Spain and France.

The British Isles continue to rank first for the number of coronavirus deaths across the continent (41,705) although the current death rate is 0.3%, compared to 2.2% in Spain.

"Crush the second hump the camel"

Boris Johnson has in the meantime asked the population for maximum cooperation to "smash the second hump of the camel" (in reference to the second wave).

The "premier" promoted this week the application of the "rule of six" (forbidden meetings of more than six people) that has faced stubborn resistance in his own party and in conservative media such as

, which has launched the "Save Christmas!" campaign.

Scotland and Wales again distanced themselves from the central government and announced that

from the "rule of six" in their respective territories.

Scotland's Chief Minister Nicola Sturgeon has anticipated that her government is also considering "new measures" to contain the spike in infections.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock meanwhile introduced the "short circuit" idea to temporarily isolate parts of northern England from the rest of the country where the virus is spreading with alarming speed.

Starting next Tuesday, residents of Lancashire, Merseyside, Yorkshire, the West Midlands and Cheshire will not be able to meet people living outside their homes.

At 10pm a nightlife curfew will be implemented, with the exception of the seaside town of Blackpool.

Residents will only be able to use public transportation for "essential trips" from work to school.

"We know that these restrictions will make daily life harder for many people, but I know that residents will work together and abide by the rules to lower transmission rates," warned Matt Hancock.

"I ask local people to isolate themselves and try to undergo a test if they have symptoms, and to comply with the recommendations to wash their hands frequently, cover their faces in public spaces and respect social distancing."

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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