UK: £ 10,000 fine for failure to comply with quarantine

Britons who fail to comply with self-containment in the event of coronavirus contamination will be fined up to 10,000 pounds sterling (11,000 euros), the government announced on Saturday when the new rules aimed at reducing the number of people were presented on Saturday. positive cases.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who said this week that the UK was facing the second wave of Covid-19, presented new restrictions on residents of the north, north-west and central regions of England, mainly affected.

"No one should underestimate the importance of these measures"

Among these measures, the British government is introducing a legal obligation of self-containment, as of September 28, for people who test positive or who are asked to do so by the National Health Service (NHS).

"The best way to fight the virus is for everyone to follow the rules and for people at risk of transmitting the disease to isolate themselves," the prime minister said in a statement.

"No one should underestimate the importance of these measures, these new rules mean that you have a legal obligation to apply them, whenever we are infected or the NHS asks you to do so," he added. .

The UK is asking people who test positive to self-isolate for 10 days, while those living with a person who tests positive or exhibits symptoms are required to self-confine for 14 days.

For non-compliance with the rules, fines will range from 1,000 GBP (1,090 EUR) to 10,000 GBP for repeated violations or the worst breaches.

Help for people with limited income

In order to encourage compliance with these rules, people with limited income may receive a flat-rate aid of GBP 500 (EUR 545) if they are unable to telework during their quarantine.

The United Kingdom has been the European country hardest hit by the current pandemic, with nearly 42,000 deaths recorded, and has faced a rapid rise in the number of new cases since the start of the school year.

"We are seeing a recovery in France, in Spain, across Europe. It is absolutely inevitable, I fear, that we end up seeing it in this country," Mr Johnson insisted.

While new restrictions were introduced this week, the British Prime Minister has expressed his reluctance to impose a new total containment of the country, as several Tory MPs are critical of the measures already taken.

During the day, anti-vaccine and anti-containment protesters clashed with police in Trafalgar Square in central London.

32 people were arrested.