Boris Johnson visits a police station in North Yorkshire, UK, on Tuesday.Charlotte Graham / Daily Telegraph / GTRES
Boris Johnson's government seems determined at this time to take the lead, faced with the threat of a second wave of the coronavirus that is already a reality in other parts of Europe.
As of Monday, gatherings of more than six people, indoors or outdoors, will be prohibited.
The measure is much more restrictive, but above all simple when it comes to understanding and executing, than the current regulations, which allowed up to a maximum of 30 people (from two family nuclei) in closed places, in the case of specific celebrations.
The penalties provided for non-compliance with the regulations will be 110 euros first, and up to 3,500 in the case of recidivism.
The measures imposed in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, which have their own competence in health matters, will foreseeably be of a similar dimension to those of England.
The new restrictions do not affect schools or workplaces, and include exceptions such as weddings, funerals or some team sports.
Downing Street thus responds to a drastic increase in the number of infected in the last three days, reaching 8,500 positives in England.
The average number of new infections each day in the UK, in the last week, is around 2,200.
This Tuesday, the figure was 2,420.
The incidence of cases is still much lower than that of Spain, where there are already 236 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
In the United Kingdom it still stands at 33.5 cases.
“We need to act now to prevent the virus from spreading.
That is why we have simplified and strengthened the rules of social contact, so that they are easier for everyone to understand and apply by the police ”, says part of the speech that Boris Johnson plans to give this Wednesday and that his office has decided to overtake the media.
The Government attributes part of the upturn to the social activity of young people during the summer, once the most severe measures of confinement were lifted.
"People have become too relaxed, and the time has come to act again, and understand that the threat we face is ongoing," said Jonathan Van Tam, the deputy chief medical
officer
of
Public Health England
(the governing body for healthcare in England) and one of Johnson's top advisers.
Information about the coronavirus
- Here you can follow the last hour on the evolution of the pandemic
- This is how the coronavirus curve evolves in Spain and in each autonomy
- Download the tracking application for Spain
- Search engine: The new normal by municipalities
- Guide to action against the disease