Johnson defends three-tier approach to Covid rules across England

England will be divided into three levels of heightened coronavirus restrictions as the government attempts to reign in a sharp rise in cases and hospitalisations. “The number of cases has quadrupled in the last three weeks. There are now more people in hospital with Covid than when we went into lockdown on March 23rd, and deaths are already rising,” the Prime Minister told the House of Commons this afternoon. 

Dismissing calls from some of his backbenchers for a less draconian approach, Johnson added that it would be impossible to “let the virus take hold among the young and fit while shielding the elderly and vulnerable, because the virus would then spread with such velocity in the general population that there would be no way of stopping it from spreading among the elderly.” 

The government will therefore implement a traffic light system to control the virus on a regional basis – with the exception that there will be no green light. Rather, the lowest alert level will be “Medium”, which will require all the current national restrictions, including the Rule of Six and the 10pm curfew, to stay in place until further notice. This level will cover most of the country, including London, for now. 

The next alert level is “High”, which “primarily aims to reduce household-to-household transmissions by preventing all mixing between different households or support bubbles indoors,” Johnson told the Commons. These restrictions will come on top of those already in place, and most areas which are already subject to heightened local restrictions will automatically move into the alert level. As a result of rising infection rates, Nottinghamshire and East and West Cheshire will be added to the grouping. 

Then there is the final, “Very High” alert level. This will encompass regions where transmission rates are rising most rapidly and where the NHS could soon be under unbearable pressure without preventative action. “In these areas the government will set a baseline of prohibiting social mixing indoors and in private gardens and, I am sorry to say, closing pubs and bars,” Johnson said. These measures can be adapted to fit specific local needs and will be negotiated with local councils and mayors – although the government has the power to enforce its will if no agreement is found. 

Downing Street has already reached an agreement with leaders in the Liverpool city region, with local authorities in the area moving to the Very High alert level from Wednesday. “As well as pubs and bars… gyms and leisure centres, betting shops, adult gaming centres and casinos will also close,” Johnson said. 

However, negotiations with other northern leaders have been less successful. Downing Street’s plans to move the Greater Manchester area to the Very High alert level were scuppered over the weekend, when it received staunch pushback from Mayor Andy Burnham and local MPs who claimed that the recent spike in cases came predominantly from isolated student outbreaks. 

Thus, Manchester will now remain in the High alert level, allowing pubs and bars to remain open. Negotiations with leaders in the North East and Yorkshire and Humber are continuing. 

Among the main concerns of regional leaders is the lack of financial support for local businesses. Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Friday announcement of a Job Support Scheme, which will pay 67 percent of the wages of workers whose businesses are “legally required to close”, failed to bridge the gap between Whitehall and the regions as there remains little support for businesses which are not forced to close but will be negatively impacted by restrictions. 

In a statement released straight after the Prime Minister’s announcement, Andy Street, the Conservative Mayor of the West Midlands, said the ban on household mixing in hospitality venues for regions on High alert will result in “a loss of income” for hospitality businesses, and called for financial support. Johnson will come under intense pressure on this matter over the coming days. 

Johnson is also facing increasing pressure from his backbenchers over the government’s general attitude to the virus. A not-insignificant number of senior Tories believe Downing Street has jumped the gun and is causing unnecessary harm to the economy. They also continue to ask for scientific evidence to support the 10pm curfew on the hospitality business, which Downing Street has yet to produce. This pent-up frustration has resulted in a major party management problem for the Prime Minister, who faces internal rebellions over key government legislation over the coming weeks. 

Labour leader Keir Starmer attempted to play up Tory divides in his response to the Prime Minister’s statement today. “I know that there will be some on his side that will oppose further restrictions,” he said. “There will be those that will look at the data and tell him to disregard it, or say the cost of acting now is too high. 

“I want to be clear, the worst thing the Prime Minister can do is not act quickly and decisively enough, or to keep coming back to this House every couple of weeks with a new plan that doesn’t work and isn’t up to the scale of the task. We need to break that cycle, finally get on top of the virus and rebuild public confidence.” 

A grim outlook 

 Jonathan Van-Tam, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, presented data earlier today showing that coronavirus is “heating up” across a far bigger proportion of the country than several days ago. “This is a nationwide phenomenon now that rates are changing upwards across the UK,” he said in a Downing Street press briefing. 

Van-Tam emphasised the virus is also spreading up the age scale, with the spike in cases moving from being predominantly amongst the young and university students to taking hold amongst those aged over 60. This, he said, was “of significant concern… because of course the elderly suffer a much worse course with Covid-19, they are admitted to hospital for longer periods, and they are more difficult to save.” 

Speaking alongside Van-Tam was Professor Stephen Powis, medical director of NHS England, who warned that hospitals in the North are coming under increasing strain as Covid-related hospitalisations rise. “In the last four weeks, hospitals in the north-west and the north-east have witnessed a seven-fold increase in Covid patients in the intensive care units, and infections continue to rise,” he said. “In just four more weeks they could be treating more patients than they were during the peak of the first wave.” 

As a result, the makeshift Nightingale hospitals in Manchester, Sunderland and Harrogate are being prepared to accept patients if necessary.