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A Lockdown With Loopholes: England Faces New Virus Restrictions


LONDON — Chocolate shops and stationery stores were busy as usual. Universities held in-person lectures. And workers crowded into some offices and factories, often with nothing more than a bottle of communal hand sanitizer to protect them from the rampant spread of the coronavirus.

In England on Thursday, the first hours of Lockdown 2.0, as local newspapers called it, looked very little like a lockdown at all.

The situation exposed the enormous difficulties of European governments, struck by a second wave of the coronavirus, as they try to put the genie back in the bottle after months of encouraging people to flock back to offices and pubs.

Since the spring, when lawmakers with little dissent ordered people to stay home, the political consensus around lockdown measures has collapsed. As a result, England’s new shutdown rules were shot through with loopholes, and companies openly flouted what relatively lenient restrictions were in place. At the same time, citizens and scientists alike fretted about the virus spreading unchecked for much of the winter.

“It feels very much like a lockdown in name only,” said Steve Gremo, a software developer in Kent, in southeast England. “In March, it seemed like the country came to a complete halt. It was not the same vibe this morning at all.”

The government changed its tune on Thursday, with Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, announcing that the program would continue until the end of March because the economic damage of the pandemic would last beyond the second lockdown.

The opposition Labour Party attacked the government’s hesitation in offering the support, saying it had caused deep uncertainty for businesses and unnecessary layoffs.

For Mr. Johnson, imposing a second lockdown at all was a dramatic turnaround. Only 10 days before he announced the plan on Saturday night, he had described a national lockdown as “the height of absurdity.”

He has continued to face political pressure from libertarian and pro-business lawmakers in his Conservative Party, more than 30 of whom voted against the new restrictions in Parliament on Wednesday. The measures passed with help from Labour lawmakers.

Despite skepticism from scientists, Mr. Johnson insisted on Thursday that the new restrictions would work.

“This is not a repeat of the spring,” he said. “Four weeks is enough for these measures to make a real impact.”

The localized restrictions that Mr. Johnson’s government had previously imposed have shown signs of flattening the uptick in infections, scientists said, with reported daily new cases leveling off at around 23,000 in recent days. Still, deaths continued to rise, with nearly 500 recorded across Britain on Wednesday, the highest level since mid-May.

When the coronavirus first surged in the spring, scientists said, the government’s objectives in asking people to stay home were clear: Officials needed time to build up testing and contact tracing programs, learn how to treat the virus and buy enough protective equipment to keep doctors and nurses safe.

“The government is constantly saying to us, ‘Yes, go back to work, contribute to society, we need to get the economy going,’ and then, ‘Oh no, wait, too much, quick lock down everything again,’” said Mr. Gremo, the software developer. “They’re trying to walk a fine line but instead they’re swinging between either extreme.”

Andy Lewis, who also lives in Kent, said the streets were far busier than they would have been for school drop-offs, essential work and shopping alone.

“It feels like either guidance hasn’t been very clear, or people are just ignoring it,” he said. Referring to a popular coffee shop chain, he added, “This morning I got an email from Costa telling me they are still open for takeaway, yet the government are telling us not to leave the house unless it’s essential?”



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