Boris Johnson is considering the introduction of tighter Covid restrictions amid lockdown, it has been reported.
The Prime Minister is believed to have spoken with senior ministers on Sunday about whether or not the current lockdown rules are working to reduce the spread of the virus. A further 54,940 cases were confirmed on Sunday, while deaths rose by 563.
It’s thought the government is now considering the scrapping of an exemption which allows people to meet up with one other person outside their household to exercise in a public space.
A source told the Daily Telegraph that the exemption was currently being misused as ‘an excuse for people to go for a coffee in the park with their friends’. They added: ‘It may be we tighten up on things like that.’
There are also concerns about infections spreading within supermarkets, which have remained open under every lockdown. Ministers are likely to tell the chains to get tougher on customers social distancing and wearing face masks inside the stores, the Times reported.
Face coverings may also be introduced in busy outdoor areas, such as shop queues, or enclosed work spaces, such as offices, it was also claimed.
Cabinet minister Michael Gove is said to have also chaired a separate emergency committee over the weekend which looked at initiatives to boost compliance.
Scientists are already calling for the government to tighten Covid rules by closing nurseries and places of worship, and making masks mandatory in busy outdoor areas, stating that a mutant strain of the virus is ‘out of control’.
Minister for Covid-19 Vaccine Deployment Nadhim Zahawi told Sky News today that the government ‘don’t want to go any tougher because this is a tough lockdown’ – but noted that there was concern over places like supermarkets.
His words come after Health Secretary Matt Hancock emphasized that the majority of people were continuing to follow lockdown rules – but warned that even the smallest ‘flexibility’ could cause someone to pass the infection on.
He told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday: ‘The challenge here is that every flexibility can be fatal. You might look at the rules and think to yourself, well it doesn’t matter too much if I just do this or I just do that. These rules are not there as boundaries to be pushed, they are the limit of what people should be doing.’
He added: ”This virus is so contagious, it then passes on and as we have seen, it is deadly, and there are people dying every day, and the NHS has got this enormous pressure on it, like it’s never seen before.’
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Hancock also defended the police for continuing to strictly enforce coronavirus restrictions, after they faced some criticism for fining two women £200 each after they met for a walk together in Derbyshire.
Jessica Allen and Eliza Moore, both 27, had driven five miles in separate cars so that they could meet at Foremark Reservoir on Wednesday. They were then stopped by police, and were told that their cups of peppermint tea from Starbucks were classed as a ‘picnic’.
Derbyshire Police later defended the decision to fine them by saying driving for exercise is ‘not in the spirit’ of restrictions.
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