Less than 12 hours after the Prime Minister's speech to the people about Covid-19 on the evening of March 23, the UK subway station was packed with passengers.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson issued a nationwide blockade in his speech on the evening of March 23, an unprecedented move to limit personal freedom in an attempt to prevent Covid-19. Mr. Johnson declared the measures effective immediately and lasted three weeks until April 13, after which they would be reviewed.
However, compared to many other countries, measures to prevent Covid-19 of the UK were considered slow and half-hearted, with very little compliance by the people. Less than 12 hours after Prime Minister Johnson's speech to the people, the London subway station was still packed with passengers, while many were still eating and drinking together in shared canteens. This image is in stark contrast to new government regulations which do not allow the gathering of more than two people in public places.
Professor Susan Michie, director of the Center for Behavioral Change Research at University College London, warns some people may not be able to adhere to new measures even if they want to.
"5 million private business owners could be left in a state of exhaustion if the government is unable to provide financial assistance, the way it is for its employees. When pension benefits fall ill by law , about 116 USD, not enough to cover the cost of rent, bills, food for the family, they will be forced to continue living as usual, "Michie said.
The British traffic police have also stepped in to ensure that only those who really need it are allowed to use the London subway system.
"I have this mask on, so you don't have to worry," a grumpy woman told a person standing at the grocery store when asked to keep her distance.
According to Shilling, the only place to see the community gap taken seriously is at the supermarket, where people wait patiently in line. However, many people do not have the opportunity to buy what they need, as many supermarkets have recently been sold out due to fear of Covid-19.
Shilling said the Londoners "ignore" the blockade may be because they are accustomed to meeting, gathering, or simply unable to give up the habits of the city.
But the ineffective start of the national blockade showed that Covid-19 would probably spread faster in Britain. Accordingly, many analysts said that in order to "smooth the curve" of the epidemic, the UK will need to implement measures to prevent the epidemic longer than expected.
China recently announced it would lift its blockade of Wuhan on April 8, a sign that the Covid-19 crisis is nearing its end, at least for the country alone. But to achieve this result, Hubei spent two months with harsh measures, such as banning travel and establishing blockade areas. But so far, the UK has not reached such a drastic blockade.
However, more than 12 weeks after the first recorded death due to Covid-19, China has not been able to lift the blockade yet, so analysts said, if the UK followed a similar path, This country will probably have to blockade at least until the end of May or early June.
Research team modeling the flu pandemic science (SPI-M) of the British government's Emergency Science Advisory Group (SAGE) suggests that a 6-month blockade of the blockade could be imposed. in many parts of the country, before thinking about easing disease control measures.
Experts say that three weeks before Prime Minister Johnson reconsidered the blockade is a very important time for Britain, because it allows scientists to make more accurate predictions about the time. The epidemic peaks and ends, based on the actual situation instead of modeling. However, they also said that the government may still lift the blockade before the epidemic peaks, if its damage outweighs the benefits of the containment.
"We are entering a stage of careful surveillance of the epidemic. First, we look for signs of a slowing of the epidemic, followed by a decrease in new infections. After three weeks, we will resolve." whether to continue to maintain epidemic control measures, or may temporarily remove or relax and plan to re-apply later, "said Mark Woolhouse, professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the University. Edinburgh, Scotland, said.
While many experts are still concerned that the current measures are not enough to prevent the epidemic, others criticize the government is facing a "pandemic of action," when it comes to taking many unreasonable measures.
"Again populism won over science, when it began to require people to do something. We still saw some notions that" people "were selfish and punished. unselfish people, when they act in a way that is appropriate to them personally but brings adverse results to the collective, "Robert Dingwall, a professor of sociology at Nottingham Trent University, said in an article. in the Telegraph.
He is currently the 8th largest epidemic region in the world, with more than 19,500 people infected and more than 1,400 people dying from Covid-19. In a letter addressed to 30 million British households on March 28, Prime Minister Johnson called on people "to stay at home, to protect the British National Health Service (NHS) and preserve lives". He warned "everything can get worse before it gets better."
British Community Minister Robert Jenrick confirmed on March 29 that the whole country was "in a state of emergency" against Covid-19. "This is an unprecedented move in peacetime. We've never done anything like that since World War II," he said.