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Summary
- Tighter Covid-19 restrictions were reportedly considered by Prime Minister Boris Johnson after he met his ministers on 10 January to evaluate the lockdown measures
- Heathrow Airport observed a 73 per cent fall in the number of passengers in 2020 as compared to 2019
The UK government might adopt tougher restrictions as Brits aren't reportedly following the rules and adhering to the lockdown measures as strictly as they should be. The new variant of the coronavirus has prompted Prime Minister Boris Johnson to tighten restrictions and spurred various countries to ban travel from the UK.
On 4 January, Johnson announced a national lockdown in all parts of the country for the third time since the pandemic outbreak was overriding the local tiered strategy. The lockdown was imposed to alleviate the burden in hospitals and to assist the NHS in the rollout of the mass vaccination programme undertaken by the government. The restrictions were expected to be in place until the middle of February and Johnson had said that it will be monitored by the officials at regular intervals.
(Image source: ©Kalkine Group 2020)
There has been a continuous rise in infection rates and the government fears that restrictions in line with the initial spring lockdown might be required as people are not taking the guidelines seriously.
Related Read: UK third lockdown: When can the restrictions be lifted?
The news of banning support bubbles and exercise with one person outside the household have been doing the rounds as Johnson held a meeting with his Cabinet yesterday to evaluate the current lockdown rules and to discuss whether they are working fine.
The move comes after parks and beach fronts across the country were filled with people at the weekend, with people taking advantage of their daily outdoor exercise allowance.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has already warned that flexing the lockdown rules could be fatal. With the number of cases touching a daily record of more than 50,000, hospital admissions have also soared. He said that the NHS was under very serious pressure.
The business paralysis
The consequences of the lockdown restrictions are felt well everywhere. Heathrow Airport, which is considered as the biggest airport of the UK, observed a 58 million fall in passengers passing through its terminals in 2020. The number of passengers plummeted 72.7 per cent in comparison with 2019 numbers as only 22.1 million people travelled through the airport.
The airport also indicated that the annual cargo volumes were down 28 per cent as the cut down in passenger planes resulted in less space available for goods.
Talking about the December figures, Heathrow said that passenger numbers had plunged 83 per cent with the new strain of Covid-19 coming into picture, leading to travel bans being imposed by several countries.
John Holland-Kaye, the chief executive of Heathrow, said that the current situation was not sustainable. The aviation industry is the cornerstone of the UK economy but is fighting for survival, and this lockdown needs a roadmap, he said.
These restrictions are exhausting the economic outlook that is likely to deteriorate both nationally and globally. The immediate economic impact could very well be an even larger contraction in the Gross Domestic Product of the nation as well the world.
