British Prime Minister Boris Johnson unveiled a new six-person cap on most social gatherings that could remain in place through the Christmas season in an attempt to control the coronavirus transmission without closing schools or enforcing more economic paralysis.
“You must not meet socially in groups of more than six — and if you do, you will be breaking the law,” Johnson said during a press conference Wednesday. “It will be enforced by the police. And anyone breaking the rules or risks being dispersed fined and possibly arrested.”
Johnson’s team made clear that the policy will be in place indefinitely as London tries to manage the transmission of the coronavirus while ramping up a nationwide testing plan. Johnson emphasized that the new regulation is designed "to avoid a second national lockdown,” but his team said that they view the simplicity of the restriction as an advantage for law enforcement tasked with breaking up any illicit gatherings.
"One of the pieces of feedback we had, including from the police, was that we needed the rules to be super simple so that everybody knows what they are," said British health secretary Matt Hancock. "And now, this will now be rigorously enforced by the police.”
Hancock said that the government isn’t “actively trying to stop” family gatherings, but he acknowledged that the policy would interfere with such events.
"You know, I have three children," he said. "We have a family of five. And so, we'll be able to see one other person at a time, as a whole family.”
First violators face a fine of 100 pounds (or $130), a penalty that increases for repeat offenders — which could soar as high as 3,200 pounds (or $4,159). Johnson demurred when asked if the policy means that “Christmas now [is] effectively canceled,” noting that he hopes to roll out “a pregnancy-style test” with rapid results that people could take each morning.
“And that gives you a kind of passport ... to mingle with everybody else who is similarly not infectious in a way that is currently impossible,” he said.
That “moonshot of daily testing” could be the key to Christmas future, the prime minister suggested. “I'm still hopeful, as I’ve said before, that in many ways we could be able to could be able to get some aspects of our lives back to normal by Christmas,” Johnson said. “Now, we cannot be 100% sure that we can deliver that in its entirety. ... If we follow the rule-of-six, then what we can certainly do is get on with controlling this virus.”
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September 10, 2020 at 04:08AM
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British police could break up Christmas parties over new ‘rule of six’ cap - Washington Examiner
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