Beaches and parks packed with sunseekers failing to follow the rule-of-six as coronavirus alert level goes up to four
BRITS flouted the rule of six today by packing out sunny beaches and parks as the coronavirus alert level rose to four. Shocking pictures showed large groups basking freely in the warm weather amid a surge in cases. The number of people allowed to gather indoors and outdoors was slashed from 30 to six earlier […]
BRITS flouted the rule of six today by packing out sunny beaches and parks as the coronavirus alert level rose to four.
Shocking pictures showed large groups basking freely in the warm weather amid a surge in cases.
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The number of people allowed to gather indoors and outdoors was slashed from 30 to six earlier this month under drastic new plans.
Those caught breaking the rule face a £100 on-the-spot penalty, with fines of up to £3,200 for repeat offenders.
But in Brighton, topless young people gathered in large groups to enjoy the last of the summer.
And some relaxed in groups of more than six in Bristol today.
It comes as pubs are set to be ordered to close at 10pm under emergency new measures to slow the spread of the disease.
Boris Johnson will also enforce patrols to make sure venues are obeying the “rule of six”.
And pubs, bars and restaurants could be shut completely in virus hotspots.
The measures, which were outlined to devolved leaders today, will be kept under review.
It’s not yet clear when the new rules will come in, or how long they will last for.
It came as the nation’s four chief scientists lifted the UK’s covid threat level up from three to four.
It means transmission of the virus is high, or rising “exponentially”, and more social distancing measures are likely to come in.
The alert level has been at level three since it was moved down on June 19 – paving the way for relaxing of restrictions.
Today, Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance said the nation could face 50,000 new coronavirus cases a day in just three weeks and deaths could soar if the bug continues to spread at its current rate.
They told the nation how the bug is spreading as the nation moves towards a challenging winter.
Sir Patrick warned: “In every age group we have seen an increase… It is now estimated that roughly 70,000 people in the UK have Covid infection and that about 6,000 people per day are getting the infection.
“If that continues unabated and this grows doubling every seven days then what you see… is by mid October we would end up with something like 50,000 cases per day.”
Two hundred people a day could be dying by the middle of November if the trend continues, he said.
Professor Whitty added that everyone has a part to play in stopping the disease, saying: “This is not someone else’s problem, this is all of our problems.
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“We must see this as a six month problem – we have to take this collectively very seriously.”
The PM will chair an emergency meeting of COBRA – the first in months – and spoke to his counterparts in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland today to discuss new measures.
A No10 spokesperson said this evening: “During these calls, the Prime Minister made clear that the rising infection rates are a cause for great concern, which he is taking very seriously.”
