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The coronavirus outbreak is “accelerating”, as fears grow that the crisis in Britain is following the same path as the one devastating Italy. The concerns came as authorities in the UK told 1.5 million people most at risk to stay at home for 12 weeks while Britain’s death toll reached 422 overnight.
Britain on Monday ordered a three-week lockdown to tackle the spread of Covid-19 coronavirus, shutting “non-essential” shops and services, and banning gatherings of more than two people. The ban also extending to weddings and baptisms but not funerals.
“Stay at home,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a televised address to the nation, as he unveiled unprecedented peacetime measures after the country’s death toll climbed to 335, Nst told. He called the pandemic “the biggest threat this country has faced for decades” and said the already overstretched state-run National Health Service (NHS) would be unable to cope if the pace of transmission continues.
Earlier, UK lurches towards a lockdown, more high street stores are not opening, fast food chain McDonald’s is shutting its restaurants at 7pm and many local authorities are closing parks and open spaces.
Boris Johnson is expected to impose tougher restrictions across the UK after scientists urged the prime minister to do more to prevent excess coronavirus deaths and said that his current strategy is not enough, with tens of thousands of lives on the line, according to Independent. British health officials fear the coronavirus crisis will last at least another year — and infect 80 percent of the nation, according to an official document leaked to a UK paper.
While news that the pandemic could last a year will likely panic the nation, it is an “entirely plausible” time scale, epidemiologist Paul Hunter told the Guardian. Coronavirus first reached Britain in late January, cases have been on the rise since late February and the first death was recorded on March 5, telegraph told. London is the city worst affected and Mayor Sadiq Khan told the BBC that police may have to be given powers to enforce social distancing.
Britain’s Muslims are amongst the hardest hit by the Covid-19
Britain’s Muslims are among the hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic – senior NHS officials believe that Muslims are particularly vulnerable to coronavirus. To those inside Muslim communities, this is shocking but not surprising. This needs to be recognised more broadly before it is too late. If Muslims feel let down, excluded or forgotten by the government response, there will be repercussions that last longer than the outbreak.
Many Muslims live in extended families, often, with three generations under one roof. This means there are a higher number of carriers who can (and often will) infect an elderly relative. An older person cannot effectively self-isolate when they are living in close quarters with their children, grand-children and perhaps even extended family.
The niche ethnic supermarkets and Halal butchers that many Muslims depend on for essential goods have less reliable supply chains than the big supermarkets, forcing many local Muslim grocers to significantly increase their prices. This is despite their customers being some of the poorest people in Britain.
And in pockets of Muslim communities, there is mistrust – or simple unawareness – of government advice. The official NHS website on the coronavirus, which has been prominently plugged during the prime minister’s daily press conferences, is available only in English.
This leaves many minorities whose English is not proficient enough to fully understand medical terms like “quarantine” and “pandemic” reliant on foreign or social media sources for their information. “Safeguarding all of our communities is paramount, and it’s reassuring so many mosques and prayer facilities have heeded this advice in trying their best to minimise the spread of the coronavirus,” Harun Khan, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said.
Factory and shop closures will push UK into deep recession
Factory and high street store closures after the coronavirus outbreak will push the UK into a deep recession this year, a study of the economy has concluded. KPMG’s latest quarterly economic outlook found the UK’s national income (GDP) has already stalled as businesses shut their doors and consumers restrict their spending to food and other essential items. Many small and medium-sized businesses are already feeling its effects.
Juliet, 60, who owns a small company manufacturing removal equipment in north-east Essex, is bracing for the worst. Low cash reserves combined with stalled sales could threaten her company’s survival, British Chambers mentioned.
In London, John, a business owner in the arts sector, said the virus had left people feeling anxious and scared. “Bookings have dropped off and the cancellations are increasing,” he said. “We’ve been contingency planning since the beginning of February as it was fairly obvious how things were going to pan out and escalate. In my opinion, the government is so behind the curve on this.
UK workers’ fears for their jobs have soared to an eight-year high and households are tightening their belts, a survey shows as the economic fallout of the coronavirus continues to grow. A poll published on Monday shows British households are at their most pessimistic over their job security in more than eight years. Workers in media, culture and entertainment were most fearful, followed by those in manufacturing, Uk.finance reported.
Joe Hayes, an economist at IHS Markit, which compiles the survey, said that People seem rightfully concerned whether or not they will be able to pay their bills in the coming months.
