The cache of messages reveal too many embarrassing facets of government, its functioning and private conversations between several senior politicians and officials and several other key figures.
British health minister Matt Hancock said it is too early to say whether the government would end lockdown restrictions on June 21. He talked about the broadly flat rate of hospitalization in the country but urged caution in dealing with the pandemic.
As many countries tentatively loosen their corona restrictions, some of us are feeling anxious. Have my social skills gotten rusty from long quarantines and lockdowns? Have my friendships gone stale? Will I still have my old clique to return to? Have my social circles frayed or shrunk?
Matt Dunham/The Associated Press
Britain’s government will require people entering England to present a negative COVID-19 test result on arrival starting next week to protect against new strains of the coronavirus from other countries, the government said on Friday.
Passengers arriving by boat, plane or train will have to take a test up to 72 hours before departing for England, the transport ministry said, mirroring measures taken by many other countries around the world.
“We already have significant measures in place to prevent imported cases of COVID-19, but with new strains of the virus developing internationally we must take further precautions,” Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said in a statement.
PHOTOGALLERY
England Lockdown: Streets, Highways & Tourist Spots are Practically Deserted
Here are the pictures that show an eerily empty UK. World | Associated Press | January 8, 2021, 1:10 pm
1/ 16 England s third national lockdown legally come into force after Britain s Prime Minister Boris Johnson order of a new national lockdown which allows people to leave their homes for limited reasons, with measures expected to stay in place until mid-February due to the surge new coronavirus cases. Not just London, all of the UK is now under strict virus curbs, with Wales, Northern Ireland and most of Scotland also imposing in lockdown. Here are the pictures that show an eerily empty England.