Groups congregate in parks, people go about their business with the vibe that it is just another day in the UK. However, this article is about the first day of the UK Coronavirus lock-down. It is more complicated than people just following the Prime Minister's orders, it seems.
It is drummed into many societies not to ignore people - Mental Health proponents normally strive to encourage people to reach out to others. A dog walk or stroll in the park is normally the ideal opportunity for people to connect. Therefore, the scene laid out in the opening sentence, probably mirrored in places across the UK is for many a force of habit.
For the first day, it was against the law and people seem to struggle to come to terms with this.
Self-isolation seems counter-instinctive
World Health Organisation and Gov.uk amongst others have been firm in their guidance about the need for self isolation, it has been well covered over the past few weeks. Given the interventions in the likes of the Czech Republic, Spain, France and Italy to name a few, a Coronavirus lock-down in the UK was a matter of time. It is unfortunate, but ominous that reports of a British man and woman, in separate cases being arrested for not complying with the lock down in Spain whilst on holiday, does not bode well for how things would go here.
UK Police Force braced for the challenge of stewarding the lock-down
The Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick appeared on British television reporting of having to disrupt numerous barbecues and group gatherings on day 1 of UK wide lock-down. There are no figures around arrests at this early stage, the Met Commissioner and the police seem to want to encourage compliance before intervention.
Given the need for more intervention in countries that are further into the lock down, this approach could well change soon.
Health Secretary re-affirms Working from Home Preference
Packed tube trains on the London underground on the first day of lock-down caused Matt Hancock, the Home Secretary to re-affirm the home working option if at all possible and to only commute if is:
"absolutely necessary and cannot be done from home."
A reduced underground service is mirrored by diminished public transport across the county.
Reports of 2 inches being a difficult personal space to achieve on the tube in London, is leading to calls for normal service to be resumed. This is something that will be a tough call to make, as the Home Secretary renewed an appeal for 250,000 volunteers to step in and support the NHS - he will be loathed to encourage people onto public transport.
Hope in the news of Italy's drop in number of infections for 3rd day in a row
Britain seems fixated on Italy and the progress since their lock-down. Mixed news on 24 March, 2020 as the death toll rose in Italy with a jump of 743 deaths from the previous day. However, the number of infections are increasing. Lock-down rules are much stricter in Italy, so if positive signs are received from Italy, there is every chance the lock-down measures could get tougher in the UK.
