Prime Minister Boris Johnson is considering introducing the new and more harsher tier 4 lockdown in hotspot areas which are engulfed with high infection rates.
Tier 4 measures will see everything closed except schools, essential shops and pharmacies, with limited travel.
On Friday morning, the Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab did not rule out the new Tier 4 lockdown.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, “We’re always ready for further measures that we can take.
“But I think the most important thing about further measures is that we continue on the track we’re on of targeting the virus.”
Speaking to Sky News, Raab said the government is still trying to avoid the “blunt tool of a national lockdown.”
He said, “If you look at those who’ve advocated a national lockdown… they have never been able to say how you get out of it,” and described it as “something of an enigma.”
“Overwhelmingly our sense is you’re far better leaning into and being absolutely committed to localised measures.”
Dr Mike Tildesley, who sits on the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), said the current three tiered system is not working.
He said, “We need to move away from these regional firefighting techniques to try to move to something more national.”
Earlier this month, Professor Chris Whitty, England’s Chief Medical Office, warned the tier 3 restrictions are not enough to bring down the R rate.
He told a Downing Street press briefing, “I am not confident and nor is anybody confident that the tier 3 proposals for the highest rates, if we did the absolute base case and nothing more, would be enough to get on top of it.
“And that is why there’s a lot of flexibility in the tier 3 level for local authorities… to actually go up that range, so that they can do significantly more than the absolute base.
“Because the base will not be sufficient, I think that’s very clearly the professional view.”
Leave a Comment