England coronavirus lockdown may be extended beyond December

A four-week virus lockdown for England set to start on Thursday may have to be extended, a government minister warned on Sunday.

“It will get reviewed on Dec. 2, but we’re always driven by what the data show,” Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove said in a Sky News interview. “We will always take the decision in the national interest based on the evidence, the best information that we have.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday announced that England would go into a second, partial lockdown as virus cases spike and government scientists warn the health system faces being overwhelmed. Total virus cases in the U.K. since the outbreak began have now passed 1 million.

“If we were to have a situation where we found our NHS overwhelmed, it will also have inevitable effects on our economy, on people’s overall confidence and their ability to go about their daily lives,” Gove said. “This is a protective step that we need to take that nobody relishes. We feel that there is no alternative.”

Johnson had for weeks sought to avoid further restrictions that the government worries will hurt the economy. Under the new measures essential shops will shut, alongside bars and restaurants, but schools will stay open in a bid to allow people to remain working.

The government also U-turned on its financial-support policy, extending its furlough program, which had been due to end on Saturday, until the end of the new lockdown. That’s the fourth time officials have changed the nature of the replacement for furlough since a successor was announced in late September and Gove said it will be reviewed if the lockdown is extended.

The dramatic step marks an end to the tiered, localized approach the government had been taking to virus curbs, and comes after weeks during which Johnson said he wanted to avoid the “nuclear option” of nationwide restrictions. That was despite advice from scientists in September to introduce a shorter “circuit-breaker” lockdown coinciding with school holidays.

Just two days ago Johnson’s de facto deputy, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, said it would be “desperately unfair” to impose national measures when covid-19 rates vary so much across England.