Fury in northern England as UK readies three-tiered Covid curbs

LONDON: Mayors representing millions across northern England vented their anger on Saturday as the government readied to impose a new three-tier coronavirus lockdown regime which critics charge will leave the poorest workers even worse off.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to outline the new regime on Monday as rates of Covid 19 infection surge particularly in the north, worsening a national death toll of more than 42,000 which is already the worst in Europe.

Under stinging criticism after media leaks detailed the government’s plan, Johnson will give a statement to parliament following a weekend of consultations between his staff and leaders of the regions affected.

Finance minister Rishi Sunak on Friday said he would pay up to two-thirds of staff monthly wages to firms forced to close over the winter months under the new system’s highest level of lockdown, tier three.

But mayors representing cities including Manchester and Liverpool said the new support fell woefully short for those on minium wage like bar staff and kitchen workers, and self-employed people such as taxi drivers and security guards.

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, who runs a region of 2.8 million residents, said a "senior figure" in Johnson’s office had told northern leaders that Sunak’s package was "non-negotiable".

"I am going public with my feeling of anger about being told the effect on people’s lives is non-negotiable," he told a news conference, alongside mayors from Liverpool, Sheffield and Newcastle, all members of the main opposition Labour party.

"I just will not accept that. We will not surrender our residents to hardship this Christmas or our businesses to failure," Burnham said.

In an open letter, the mayors called for resistance in parliament this week from Conservative MPs who won a slew of former Labour strongholds in northern England in a general election last December.

"I wouldn’t rule out a legal challenge, if the political challenge fails," Burnham said, demanding to know why the government was treating the lowest paid differently to workers currently getting 80 percent of their wages paid by the government.

The three-tier system is meant to clarify the patchwork of rules for England that has evolved since infection rates started to climb again in September, according to reports. Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said on BBC radio the new approach would offer "simple national rules" to tighten restrictions where needed, "but then also greater freedom for those local areas to design further measures" in partnership with Whitehall.

Several urban centres in northern England have been hit with a range of curbs on social life such as a ban on different households mixing, but the south has escaped stricter restrictions for now.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own devolved governments and separate health systems. Pubs across central Scotland have closed for just over two weeks to try to cut close-contact transmission.

The highest tier three level of lockdown for England is expected to go beyond existing restrictions such as a curfew for pubs, and close hospitality venues altogether, similar to measures enacted in recent days elsewhere in Europe.

No social contact would be allowed outside a person’s own household, including outdoors.

Liverpool City Region mayor Steve Rotheram said the government had informed him that his conurbation of 1.5 million people was set to enter tier-three lockdown from Wednesday.

Like the other mayors, he stressed his support for scientifically backed measures to restrict the pandemic’s spread, but expressed "incredulity and dismay" at the government’s imposition of restrictions by diktat.

"We are actually talking about lives and livelihoods," Rotheram said.

"We’ve consistently said to government that imposing new restrictions without also providing adequate funding support is simply not acceptable."Germany and Poland enforced new restrictions to fight the coronavirus on Saturday as the number of cases surged in Europe, and breached 10 million in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Bars and restaurants are to close at 11:00 pm (2100 GMT) in Berlin until October 31 in a partial curfew, a measure already imposed -- but starting an hour earlier -- in the financial capital Frankfurt.

The shutdown in the German capital -- with more than 400 new cases daily -- also covers all shops except pharmacies and petrol stations, although they will be banned from selling alcohol.

"This is not the time to party," said Berlin’s social democratic mayor Michael Muller. "We can and we want to prevent another more severe confinement."

Chancellor Angela Merkel had already warned Friday that high-infection areas would be given 10 days to bring down cases or face tougher action, calling big cities the "arena" to keep the pandemic under control.

In neighbouring Poland, the authorities told people to wear face masks in all public spaces after coronavirus cases hit a new record daily high of 4,280.

To the south, the Czech Republic faced the prospect of a new lockdown as the growth in Covid-19 cases set a fourth straight daily record.

The number of 8,618 was the fastest spike in Europe.Governments on several continents are struggling to keep up with a sharp rise in infections as the pandemic’s second wave arrives ahead of the northern hemisphere’s influenza season.Since it emerged in China late last year, the virus has killed more than one million worldwide, infected more than 36 million and forced millions more out of work as the pandemic batters the global economy.

Latin America and the Caribbean marked 10 million cases on Saturday and with more than 360,000 deaths, the region is the worst hit in terms of fatalities, according to official figures.

Meanwhile, Iran is to start imposing fines for breaches of health regulations in the capital, President Hassan Rouhani announced on Saturday, after daily coronavirus infections hit a record high this week.

Iran has previously held back from using fines to enforce mask wearing in public and other health protocols, but they will now be imposed in the capital Tehran, Rouhani told a televised meeting of the country’s coronavirus taskforce.

The police, the Basij paramilitary force and health inspectors will have powers to impose the fines, and offenders will have two weeks to make payment into a health ministry account, Rouhani said in a televised speech during the weekly coronavirus taskforce meeting.

Breaches punishable by a fine include refusal to quarantine while sick and failure to wear a mask in a public space or require a customer to do so.

Fines range from 500,000 rials ($1.60) for not wearing a mask to a maximum of 10 million ($32.80) for businesses not observing health protocols.

The fines represent a not insignificant sum for Iranians who have endured a deep recession since Washington reimposed crippling economic sanctions in 2018.

The minimum monthly wage stands at around 18 million rials, worth less than $60 following a sharp fall in the value of the currency.

Iran’s daily death toll from the novel coronavirus hit a record high of 239 on Wednesday. Daily infections reached a new high of 4,392 the following day.

The virus has now killed more than 28,000 people and infected more than 496,000 in Iran, according to health ministry figures.