UK PM Johnson announces lock down effort in response to coronavirus threat

A pre-recorded speech from UK Prime Minister Johnson being broadcast now

  • coronavirus is the biggest threat UK has faced for decades
  •  “Without huge national effort to halt the growth of this virus, there’ll come a moment when no health service in the world could possibly cope; because there won’t be enough ventilators, enough intensive care beds, enough doctors, enough nurses”
Says people should remain at home, only go out for essentials, medical reasons
  • critical thing is to stop the disease spreading between households
  • people will only be allowed to shop for basic necessities
  • people only allowed one form of exercise a day alone or with members of your household
  • people allowed out for any medical need, or to provide care or to help a vulnerable person
  • people can travel to and from work, but only where this is absolutely necessary and cannot be done from home
  • people should not be meeting friends or family who live outside their home
  • police will have the powers to enforce rules, including through fines and dispersing gatherings

Without a huge national effort, will come a moment when no health service in the world could possibly cope

  • says if too many people become seriously unwell at one time, the health service will be unable to handle it

More:

  • closing immediately all shops selling non-essential goods,​including clothing and electronic stores and other premises including libraries, playgrounds and outdoor gyms, and places of worship
  • will stop all gathering of more than two people, except people you live with
  • we’ll stop all social events​, including weddings, baptisms and other ceremonies, but excluding funerals
  •  restrictions will be kept under constant review
  • we will look again at restrictions in three weeks
  • we will relax restrictions if the evidence shows we are able to
  •  says the way ahead is hard, and it is still true that many lives will sadly be lost

Various forms of lockdown have been enacted across the globe in an effort to avoid overwhelming health systems, saving illnesses and deaths.
This will have a devastating effect on economies, but there are no glib easy answers. Both monetary and fiscal policy are being enacted aimed at mitigating some of the economic impacts.
A pre-recorded speech from UK Prime Minister Johnson being broadcast now