London Should Face Fresh Lockdown Curbs As Early As Monday, Mayor Sadiq Khan Warns Ministers
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has warned Boris Johnson that the capital needs fresh Covid restrictions as early as Monday if it is to avoid a big spike in the spread of the virus.
Khan is also preparing to urge the public to work from home if they can do so, in a switch back to the message used by the government at the height of the lockdown.
New modelling shown to the Mayor suggests that London is no longer two weeks behind hotspots like the north east and greater Manchester, but is instead “two or three days behind”, insiders told HuffPost UK.
Related...
Khan is pushing for similar curbs, including 10pm curfews on pubs and a ban on mixing of households, in a desperate bid to impose a firebreak in the spread of Covid.
A Mayoral source said: “It’s clear that cases in London are only moving in one direction, we are now just days behind hotspots in the North West and North East.
“We can’t afford more delay. Introducing new measures now will help slow the spread of the virus and potentially prevent the need for a fuller lockdown like we saw in March, which could seriously damage the economy once again.”
The ‘work from home’ message would be a big shift away from No.10′s own stress just a few weeks ago, when the PM urged workers to go to the office if they could.
Related...
However, many in the civil service as well as big banks and other corporate firms in London have seen staff continue to work remotely.
New restrictions, already in place in greater Manchester and some regions, were extended to Lancashire and the north East in recent days.
Khan is worried about the rapidly changing situation in the city. Whereas data from a few days ago indicated London was two weeks...
