Towards strong but local measures.

After four weeks of re-containment in England, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced, Monday, November 23, the end of this measure in December and a return to a local strategy against the Covid-19 epidemic.

This would be muscular and accompanied by a massive screening program, according to its announcements.

Despite successive good news on the vaccine front, including Britain's AstraZeneca / Oxford project, the Conservative head of government has warned that restrictions are expected to remain in place for several months.

"It cannot be a normal Christmas and there is a long way to go until spring," Boris Johnson told MPs by video conference.

He is in isolation after coming into contact with an infected person.

"But we have taken a step and the outcome is in sight. We must resist the virus until testing and vaccines come to our rescue and reduce the need for restrictions," he added. that his intervention is not cut off by technical problems.

This caused hilarity on the benches of Westminster.

The United Kingdom, the European country most bereaved by the pandemic, has more than 55,000 deaths of people testing positive for the new coronavirus and more than 1.5 million positive cases.

Return of fans to football stadiums, reopening of stores ...

After four weeks of general confinement decreed on November 5, England will return to restrictions imposed locally depending on the incidence of the virus, according to a three-level system which will however be reinforced.

Good news for football fans: they will be able to return to the stadiums at the beginning of December, in the areas least affected by the virus.

The number of spectators allowed to attend matches will depend on the alert level of each region, which will be unveiled on Thursday, but never to exceed 4,000.

Across England, non-essential stores and sports venues will be able to reopen, and church services and weddings will resume.

Residents will now be able to meet if they do not exceed the threshold of six people.

During confinement, it was only possible to see a maximum of one person outside their home, in a park, for example.

Relaxed measures for Christmas, "risky", answers the opposition

Where they can reopen, pubs and restaurants will take their last orders at 10 p.m. and close an hour later.

Restrictions are set to be relaxed for a few days over Christmas and discussions are underway between the government and authorities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to try to have a unified approach, with every UK province deciding on its own health strategy.

Labor opposition leader Keir Starmer called the local approach "risky", recalling that it had "not worked" previously, leading to general lockdown in November.

Screening rather than isolation, while waiting for the vaccine

The government is counting on the vaccines under development to get out of the tunnel represented by the pandemic.

Boris Johnson hailed in the Astra-Zeneca vaccine with the University of Oxford, 70% effective on average and up to 90% in some cases, a "wonderful British scientific achievement": "We have ordered 100 million of doses of the Oxford vaccine, and over 350 million (vaccine doses) in total. "

Its post-containment plan will be accompanied by a massive and rapid screening program for populations in areas classified at "very high" risk.

This like the experiment carried out "successfully" in Liverpool (North West), where more than 200,000 people have been tested since the beginning of November, the government said in a statement.

Ultimately, people who come into contact with a positive case will also be able to be tested regularly, allowing them to escape a 14-day isolation currently mandatory, such as that to which the Prime Minister is subjected.

With AFP

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