Another lockdown to harm UK's, cautions Rishi Sunak

Summary

• The Chancellor says that a weak economy might not be able to properly fund health services
• Covid-19 cases rising at a faster pace at few regions as compared to the rest and need stricter restrictions in place
• A 3-tier traffic light system of restrictions appears to be on the government’s cards and might be imposed soon

Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the UK Treasury, has stated that in case a second lockdown is imposed in the UK, it would impair not just the British economy but also the society at large. He added that a sluggish economy could limit the government’s ability to finance public health services which in turn could negatively affect people’s long-term health.

Agreeing that the 10 PM curfew could slow down the growth of the UK hospitality sector, Sunak mentioned that it was unavoidable, and he wished for better circumstances going forward.

He also said that while there were different opinions regarding the stricter rules imposed by the government to curb the speedily rising Covid-19 cases in the nation, however, the best thing during these testing times is to abide by the rules.

Covid-19 cases

The number of Covid-19 cases are doubling almost every week, according to Sir Patrick Vallance, England's Chief Scientific Adviser. He cautioned that if the spread of the disease is not controlled right now, the country could see the daily coronavirus cases reaching a tall number of 50,000 by the third week of October 2020.

Further, if this trend continued, Britain would be sitting of a daily death toll of 200, due to the deadly disease by the mid of November 2020, he warned.

According to Chris Whitty, England's Chief Medical Officer, the pandemic is rising at a fast pace across north-east and north-west of England as well as in London. Another high infection area is that of Manchester where infection rate is more than 300 per 0.1 million.

One distinguishing feature of the second peak phase of Covid-19 infections has been that it is quite localized with fast spread being noticed in selected areas, as per Matt Hancock, Health Secretary. Few of such regions are Hartlepool, Liverpool, Middlesbrough, and Warrington where strict local coronavirus restrictions began on 3 October 2020, he mentioned.

For instance, the daily cases have crossed 250 per 0.1 million at Liverpool. Hancock advised against social interactions among people of different households. People with a high infection rate should also avoid going out to any events, he stressed.

For Warrington, these new rules beginning 3^rd October came as a second set of restrictions in over a week’s time. These could puzzle people, experts told.

Additionally, social restrictions have also been tightened for the areas of County Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle, Northumberland, Sunderland, and Tyneside.

Hancock informed that the UK government is mulling over providing a support package worth £7 million for the impacted councils.

The number of daily reported Covid-19 cases was 12,594 across the UK, which took the total number of cases reported till 5 October to 515,571. A total of 42,369 people had died until that day because of the coronavirus infections.

Health experts have pointed out that a part of the sharp increase in corona cases during September 2020 is a result of higher testing being undertaken. September saw much more tests being taken as compared to March and April 2020, when the first wave of infections came. Therefore, people with milder symptoms also got added to the official count this time around, specified the experts.

Efficient and a more widespread corona testing had picked up a greater proportion of the total Covid-19 infected cases during the month of September 2020 than before, pointed out the health experts.

Is a three-tier lockdown coming?

Boris Johnson, the UK Prime Minister has not yet confirmed if a three-tier lockdown is being introduced in the country, however, there are romours around the same. If these are to be believed, the country could be moving towards a 3-tier traffic light system from the current set of local restriction measures.

Each area would be allocated a number or a traffic light colour (red, amber, or green), based on the prevailing Covid-19 infection rate in that region.

This number would decide the types of rules to be imposed – be it a restriction on the social mixing of households, or avoiding indoor sports events, and so on.

The toughest or level-3 set of rules could entail closure of hospitality venues and leisure activities, no social mixing outside the household, no overnight stays out of home, and no social club or community center group activities, according to government sources.

At the same time, medical experts have pointed out that while imposing any local lockdowns, the related policies must be carefully formulated. Rules should be kept simple to avoid any confusions among people.

Experts also shared that simpler and direct rules have a higher compliance rate since they are easier to recall and follow. People feel baffled with different compliance rules across the nation, they added.

Another challenge while formulating and governing the local rules is the ability to decentralise the emergency related policies in the UK and empower local authorities to take charge and make their own decisions, pointed out John Preston, sociology professor, Essex University.

Eventually, it seems likely that the UK might be going in for a second lockdown, which would be more localised than the first one imposed on 23 March 2020. The reason for this is that this time around, the Covid-19 infections are spreading at a different pace across various regions in the nation, which calls for distinct set of rules to be put in place accordingly. According to sources, a new 3-tier traffic light system of rules might be on the cards. However, Rishi Sunak mentioned that we can’t ignore the crucial fact that another lockdown could weaken the already sluggish British economy and will impact managing the health of people in the long-term, as arranging funds for the same might get tougher.