The United Kingdom has recently been put on another nation-wide lockdown due to COVID-19. Scotland’s lockdown is said to last until mid-February, at the earliest. England, however, has decided to end it’s lockdown laws on Mar. 31 and ease restrictions then. As for Wales and Northern Ireland, they’re hoping for the end of January, but strongly think that the situation won’t change enough by then.
The reason behind the lockdown is the same as before, to keep people safe. Unfortunately, they now have to keep people safe from a new variant of the coronavirus. This strain is said to be able to spread and infect people easier than the original. However, there is no evidence to support claims that the new strain is deadlier than its predecessor.
All the nations in the UK have implemented restrictions that help keep the spread of the virus slow. England’s restrictions are almost the same as the ones of Southern California: stay home if you can, if you go out, stay two meters apart, shop locally, international travel is not prohibited for people it is essential for, and places that are not essential businesses are closed.
Scotland has created its own lockdown levels on a scale of zero to four. Level four consists of rules such as: schools are closed to all, no traveling far unless it’s essential, and people should only leave their house for essential reasons.
Level three is more liberal with its restrictions, stating that pubs and restaurants can open, but can’t serve alcohol, gyms can be used by individuals, and hairdressers and barbers can open back up. As of now, levels two, one, and zero cannot be applied to any part of Scotland. Ireland and Wales follow with practically the same restrictions as the other two nations: only leave the house for essential reasons.
As of Jan. 20, there have been 3,505,754 cases of COVID-19 and 93,290 deaths in the UK. Fortunately, 1,558,503 people have recovered from the virus. Due to the creation of the vaccine, it’s been projected that by later this year, things will start to ease up, not only with restrictions, but with cases of the virus in general.
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