Pressure is mounting on the Prime Minister to place London into tier 3 restrictions or face a “terrible rise” over Christmas as cases are surging across the capital.
Health experts have warned the government to make a decision now, to enforce harsher restrictions within the “next 48 hours” to save lives and prevent more infections.
Cases are increasing daily across the majority of the capitals’ boroughs, however the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan along with Cabinet Ministers say, tier 3 can still be avoided if people follow the rules.
London now has double of cases compared to regions that are already in tier 3, meaning Boris Johnson could possibly impose the tier 3 restrictions imminently.
On 16 December Johnson and his team will be reviewing the restrictions.
Speaking to the Guardian newspaper, Professor John Ashton who is the former regional director of public health north west England warned that the government must “decide in the next 48 hours.”
If the government does not act by Friday then they do “risk a terrible situation for London, with deaths going up during the Christmas period.”
The Professor added that the situation is so bad that the government could be forced into a “complete lockdown” again.
Professor Ashton added that the government must not wait until 16 December to put the capital into the toughest tier as this will be “too late.”
He said, “It would be exactly what [government] has done throughout this [crisis], which is to make these decisions one or two weeks too late.
“If they want people to feel that they have got some semblance of Christmas, then they are going to have to be decisive for once.”
Should the Prime Minister order the capital into a tier 3, then all pubs, restaurants with the exception of takeaways will be forced to close, placing further pressure on the economy.
Khan warned, “The number of cases in London are rising again and if we don’t all work together now, we may face tougher restrictions across the capital.
“Londoners have worked incredibly hard to bring down the number of cases before, but we must not risk undoing all the sacrifices that have been made by lowering our guard and allowing cases to rise further ahead of Christmas.”
The Mayor for London added, “No one wants to see a devastating further surge in cases or the need for more restrictions, so we must act now and do all we can to protect each other and the NHS.”
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