Tougher COVID-19 Restrictions To Be Imposed In London From Saturday - Reports

Tougher COVID-19 Restrictions to Be Imposed in London From Saturday - Reports

UK's capital city will move from medium risk tier 1 alert, currently in force in most parts of England, to high-risk tier 2, where people from the different households cannot meet indoors, from early Saturday, in an attempt to contain the increasing number of COVID-19 infections, London lawmakers were told on Thursday

LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th October, 2020) UK's capital city will move from medium risk tier 1 alert, currently in force in most parts of England, to high-risk tier 2, where people from the different households cannot meet indoors, from early Saturday, in an attempt to contain the increasing number of COVID-19 infections, London lawmakers were told on Thursday.

The announcement was made by social care minister Helen Whately in a call to the local lawmakers on Thursday morning, the Sky news broadcaster reported.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan was also quoted as telling the London Assembly that the city "is at a critical moment" in the fight against COVID-19.

"The virus is spreading rapidly in every corner of our city. We'll soon reach an average of 100 cases per 100,000 people - with a significant number of boroughs already over that threshold," he said.

UK Health Minister, Matt Hancock, is expected to update Parliament later during the day, as the government has been discussing the expansion of stricter coronavirus restrictions to more parts of England.

According to local media reports, Greater Manchester and Lancashire could soon join the Liverpool City Region and be placed under the "very high" tier 3 alert.

The three-tier system announced by prime minister Boris Johnson on Monday is divided into three levels: "Medium" means existing national social distancing measures such as the so-called Rule of Six, which prohibits indoor or outdoor meetings of more than six people, and the closure of hospitality venues at 10:00pm (21:00 GMT), will be applied.

"High" adds extra measures including a ban on indoor social mixing between households or support bubbles, and "Very High" puts a ban on all social mixing between people from a different household in private and public places, and the closure of pubs and other leisure venues, but without closing schools.

Opposition leader Keir Starmer has demanded that the government imposes a two-three week "circuit breaker" lockdown in England, as suggested by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) weeks ago.

As of Wednesday, the UK has recorded 654,644 cases of the novel coronavirus and 43,155 COVID-19-related deaths.