COVID-19 Cases Surpass 1 Million in UK, Leading to Reintroduction of 4-Week Lockdown Measures

Effective November 5 to December 2... Non-essential businesses, restaurants, bars to close
Prime Minister Johnson "Hope to be with family at Christmas"... Expresses regret to businesses

Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom [Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] The UK government has decided to reintroduce lockdown measures across England to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). Although they tried to avoid lockdowns considering the economic impact, the rapid resurgence and the cumulative confirmed cases surpassing 1 million made such measures inevitable.

According to BBC and other sources, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson held a press conference on the 31st of last month and announced a four-week lockdown from the 5th of this month until the 2nd of next month. During this period, non-essential businesses, pubs, and restaurants across England will be closed. However, unlike the first lockdown introduced in March, schools and universities will remain open.

After the lockdown period ends, the current three-tier regional response system will be applied as before. The UK government has been applying this three-tier COVID-19 response system in England, which imposes different restrictions based on regional infection rates, due to concerns that a full lockdown would worsen the economy.

Prime Minister Johnson held an unscheduled cabinet meeting on the day to discuss the four-week lockdown before holding the press conference. He said, "This Christmas will probably be very different," adding, "But my hope and belief is that by taking strong measures now, families will be able to be together at Christmas."

Johnson also expressed regret over the impact of the full lockdown on businesses, saying, "I am truly sorry," and announced an extension of the 'Job Retention Scheme,' which provides up to 80% of employees' wages, for one more month beyond its originally planned end at the end of last month. Johnson plans to explain the second lockdown measures in a separate statement to Parliament on the 2nd.

The reason the UK government has reintroduced full lockdown measures is that the COVID-19 resurgence is faster than expected. The UK Department of Health reported 21,915 new daily confirmed cases on the day. As a result, the cumulative confirmed cases exceeded 1 million (1,011,660). According to Worldometer, there are nine countries where cumulative COVID-19 cases have surpassed 1 million: the United States, India, Brazil, Russia, France, Spain, Argentina, Colombia, and the UK.

SPI-M, which provides scientific modeling results related to the pandemic to the government, warned that if no additional measures are taken to curb the spread of COVID-19, daily deaths could reach 4,000. During the first peak of COVID-19 spread in April and May, the daily death toll in the UK was over 1,000.