London And Other Areas Could Face Travel Lockdown, No.10 Confirms
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Travel in and out of London and other areas across England could be halted to curb a second wave of Covid-19.
No.10 confirmed the government could move to shutdown local transport networks and stop travel if any “localised area” was “badly affected”.
It comes amid a flurry of reports that airports in the capital could be frozen and other travel stopped.
Asked to clarify whether such a lockdown could happen in London, Boris Johnson’s official spokesperson did not rule it out and said other places could face a similar ban.
They said: “If you look at the Contain strategy which we published just over two weeks ago, it sets out within there the possibility of putting in place restrictions on travel, if there is an area that is particularly badly affected, and one of the steps within that potentially includes closing down local transport networks.
“So, it’s there, it’s contained in the document. It’s not a new thing.
“We’ve informed the public and politicians of that being a potential action that we can take.
“But to be clear it is not something specific to London or anywhere else, it is something which would be used if there was a specific outbreak in a town or city or localised area.”
Last week, Downing Street reimposed some lockdown measures in Manchester and parts of the north as new data revealed a surge in positive tests for the virus.
Since then, a major incident has been declared in Manchester.
Reports have also emerged that the government is weighing up plans to introduce shielding measures for the over-50s.
It is also thought fresh restrictions on households meeting could be on the cards.
Appearing on LBC radio on Monday, business minister Nadhim Zahawi also refused to rule out a London lockdown.
He said: “We constantly look at how the virus is behaving.
“If we see the virus spreading in a...
