LONDON — U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is mulling a monthlong national lockdown across England starting next week as the coronavirus outbreak spreads faster than even the government's worst-case scenario.
If implemented, schools and universities as well as essential businesses would be exempt from the restrictions, said people familiar with the plan, who asked not to be identified because a final decision has not yet been taken. The lockdown will take effect as soon as Wednesday, remaining in place until Dec. 1, said the Times, which first reported on the plan.
U.K. cases have been rising at a record pace and caseloads and hospital admissions are now exceeding even the most pessimistic projections of the government's scientific advisory panel, papers released Friday showed. France, Germany, Spain and Italy have all imposed partial lockdowns this month with cases rising at record rates across Europe where more than 215,000 people have died and nearly 7 million have been infected.
The U.K. government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies had called in September for a two- to three-week "circuit-breaker" lockdown coinciding with October school holidays to rein in transmission. Johnson had initially favored sticking to regional measures to try to fight the virus, while limiting the economic damage from broader restrictions, and didn't impose the circuit breaker.
Discussions on a new national lockdown are still ongoing and no final decision had been made, the person said. Tougher regional measures known as Tier 4 restrictions are also being considered. Johnson met with Chancellor Rishi Sunak, Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove and Health Secretary Matthew Hancock to discuss the latest National Health Service data, the Times said.
Cases in the U.K., where policy to fight COVID-19 is controlled separately in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, jumped by more than 24,000 on Friday and total infections will likely exceed 1 million as soon as Saturday. The country has Europe's highest death toll from COVID-19 with more than 46,000 fatalities, followed by Italy, France and Spain, which each has more than 35,000 deaths.
Wales last week adopted a "firebreak lockdown" until Nov. 9 to try to get the transmission rate down, while scientists and opposition lawmakers have long been urging Johnson to do the same for England. Scotland has said it will continue with a regional approach, though its five-tier system includes tougher measures in the worst-hit areas than England's equivalent.
Without new restrictions, the U.K. is on course for a higher death toll than during the first wave of the pandemic, with one of the models studied suggesting deaths could reach more than 4,000 a day, the BBC reported, citing documents it saw. That's about four times the level at the first peak of the virus in the U.K.
