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One man, one mask: Boris Johnson visiting his London constituency in July
Photo: Andrew Parsons / dpa
In mid-July, when the first wave of the pandemic subsided in the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson was asked whether he might impose the next national lockdown in winter.
He doubted it, replied the Prime Minister, that the country would be sealed off again if it were a "nuclear" option - "I don't want to go back to it. And I don't think we'll be in such a situation again."
Three months and many thousands of Covid-19 infected people later, Johnson appeared live in front of the nation on Monday evening and announced that the everyday life of around 17 million English people will now be subject to massive restrictions again.
Above all that of the people in Liverpool and the surrounding area, from Wednesday they are not allowed to meet others inside or outside, no longer go to pubs for drinks, no longer visit gyms.
It wasn't a national lockdown that Johnson imposed - not yet.
But: "The numbers shine like warning lamps in a passenger plane."
Back on the go
In fact, all four parts of the kingdom have been reporting rapidly increasing infection rates since the end of September.
In England and Wales alone, more than 13,000 newly infected people were recently registered;
the number of people requiring hospital treatment is now higher than it was before the nationwide lockdown in March.
Particularly worrying: Although the government announced containment measures weeks ago for the particularly affected regions in central and northern England, the virus continues to be rampant there at an above-average rate.
The Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England, Jonathan Van-Tam, sees it this way: The country is practically back to where it was in March.
On Monday, Johnson tried to pull the rip cord.
In order to "simplify and standardize" the rules and exceptions in the fight against the pandemic, which are difficult to keep track of, the head of government announced a three-stage corona warning system.
Accordingly, regions with a "medium", "high" and "very high" risk of infection will be flagged nationwide in the future.
The higher the risk, the stricter the restrictions.
Liverpool hardest hit
The 500,000-inhabitant city of Liverpool in the north-west of England has been hardest hit for the time being.
Because up to 1000 new infections were recently counted there daily, the life of the party-happy Liverpudlians will now stand still for at least four weeks in many places.
For large parts of the north of England and the Midlands, warning level 2 applies for the time being - in the rest of England, including London, the government still sees a medium risk.
The rules that have been customary up to now remain there, such as the fact that a maximum of six people may meet inside and outside at the same time.
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Fab Four under quarantine: passers-by in the corona hotspot Liverpool
Photo: Jon Super / AP
Johnson's government apparently wants to regain part of the trust that it has lost in recent months through a number of wrong decisions and switchbacks.
However, it is questionable whether the hapless prime minister will succeed.
In any case, his evening television appearance was less than 20 minutes old when critics across the country pointed out the next inconsistencies in the new corona concept.
Wales wants to prevent British people from entering the country
For example, pubs are allowed to stay open in high-risk areas if they offer "substantial meals" with beer - whatever that means.
It is also unclear how and whether the government will prevent citizens from leaving corona hotspots.
As a precaution, the regional government of Wales has already let it be known that it does not want to allow people arriving from England to pass through without further ado - the North Wales border is around 50 kilometers from the metropolitan area of Liverpool.
With the new measures, the central government in London also risks fueling the anger of town hall chiefs in the north of England.
Many of them have been complaining across party lines for weeks that ongoing restrictions will drive the economically troubled region into ruin.
Several mayors complain that Johnson's government has worsened the situation in the north through serial incompetence.
Most recently, for example, there were hair-raising breakdowns in mass tests for the population: sometimes around 16,000 people who tested positive were simply overlooked because of a computer breakdown, sometimes the tests ran out in Manchester and all other hotspots in the north.
Did Johnson Really Follow Science?
Andy Burnham, Labor politician and head of the Manchester metropolitan area, doubts the government still has the situation under control.
The edict issued weeks ago to close pubs at 10 p.m., for example, is not only pointless, but possibly counterproductive.
In any case, there are several indications that those who are thirsty just keep drinking on the street late at night - but no longer pay attention to social distance at all.
Burnham and others are therefore increasingly demanding that Johnson finally disclose the scientific basis on which he made these and other decisions.
After all, the head of government assures at every opportunity that he is "following science".
The doubts about this have increased again since Monday.
Then it became public that the scientific advisory board of Johnson's government (abbreviated: Sage) had urgently advised strict restrictions on public life three weeks ago.
Experts advised a temporary lockdown early on
According to a minutes of the meeting on September 21, the professionals called on Johnson for a nationwide two-week lockdown to halt the exponential increase in infections.
Anyone who could work from home would have to be prohibited from meeting people from other households;
Pubs, restaurants, fitness studios, hairdressers and other service providers should close immediately, university courses should only take place online.
The scientists made their recommendation at a time when the recent crisis still seemed manageable and around 3,000 new infections were reported daily.
But Johnson's government only accepted one suggestion, working from home.
The experts had made it very clear that anything but immediate restrictions would have "catastrophic consequences".
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