Construction sites can stay open as and continue to operate during the latest lockdown.
The prime minister’s announcement on 4th January 2020 informed the nation that there will be a lockdown until mid-February. It will be similar in nature to the first lockdown in spring 2020, with people urged to “leave home for work purposes where it is unreasonable for you to do your job from home, including but not limited to people who work within critical national infrastructure, construction or manufacturing that require in-person attendance.”
Guidance added that construction ” is essential to keeping the country operating.”
Tradespeople can also work in other people’s homes and builders merchants and building products suppliers will be able to keep stores open.
The new measures follow the emergence last month of a new variant of covid-19 which the government’s scientists have found to be 50% to 70% more infectious.
Johnson added: “With most of the country already under extreme measures, it’s clear that we need to do more together to bring this new variant under control while our vaccines are rolled out.”
Earlier in the day, Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon announced a similar lockdown starting at midnight last night.
Construction sites north of the border have also been told they can remain open although they have been told to “plan for the minimum number of people needed on site to operate safely and effectively”.
Figures released yesterday showed there were 26,626 COVID patients in hospital in England, up 30% on a week earlier. The peak of admissions in the first wave was 18,374 on 12 April but the country is now 40% above that level.
Johnson said across the UK, there were 80,664 positive tests on 29 December, with the case rate three times higher than at the start of last month.
Image: DaniKauf. Shared under Creative Commons License.
