Two scientists advising the UK government on its coronavirus action plan have publicly supported a new national lockdown.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is considering imposing the measures from next week and called a meeting of his Cabinet on Saturday.
Professor John Edmunds, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, said Christmas, when families and friends could be tempted to socialise and break lockdown orders, can be made relatively safe if strict restrictions were imposed now.
Another Sage adviser, Professor Calum Semple, said “the tiered approach to restrictions hasn’t worked particularly well”.
“If [a four-week lockdown] was applied nationally and was adhered to you would see a dramatic fall in hospital admissions and that’s in four weeks’ time,” Prof Semple said.
He suggested a review at four weeks and said there could be a “bit of easing around the festive activities” but that a lockdown would give officials “time to get test, trace and isolate processes really up to scratch”.
They both seemed to support a national lockdown rather than local lockdowns or a limited national circuit breaker.
“The idea of a lockdown is to save lives primarily,” Prof Edmunds said.
“I think the only real way that we have a relatively safe Christmas is to get the incidence right down because otherwise I think Christmas is very difficult for people – nobody wants to have a disrupted Christmas holiday period where you can’t see your family and so on.
“So I think the only way that that can be safely achieved is to bring the incidence right down, and in order to do that we have to take action now and that action needs to be stringent, unfortunately.”
If Mr Johnson’s government does decide on a second lockdown it could happen as early as next week.
The UK on Friday reported 24,405 new cases of Covid-19 and a further 274 deaths within 28 days of a positive test, according to government data.
The Times said Mr Johnson was expected to hold a news conference on Monday to announce the new measures, under which everything could be closed except essential shops and educational settings.
Mr Johnson has repeatedly said he did not want to impose a second national lockdown because of the harm it will do to the economy.
France, similarly, was adamant there would be no second lockdown, but President Emmanuel Macron made an about-turn in the face of soaring infection rates.
In England, each region is placed in one of three tiers with Tier 1 being medium, Tier 2 high and Tier 3 very high.
But so far, regional restrictions have not slowed the spreading second wave.
if you go
The flights
Direct flights from the UAE to the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, are available with Air Arabia, (www.airarabia.com) Fly Dubai (www.flydubai.com) or Etihad (www.etihad.com) from Dh1,200 return including taxes. The trek described here started from Jomson, but there are many other start and end point variations depending on how you tailor your trek. To get to Jomson from Kathmandu you must first fly to the lake-side resort town of Pokhara with either Buddha Air (www.buddhaair.com) or Yeti Airlines (www.yetiairlines.com). Both charge around US$240 (Dh880) return. From Pokhara there are early morning flights to Jomson with Yeti Airlines or Simrik Airlines (www.simrikairlines.com) for around US$220 (Dh800) return.
The trek
Restricted area permits (US$500 per person) are required for trekking in the Upper Mustang area. The challenging Meso Kanto pass between Tilcho Lake and Jomson should not be attempted by those without a lot of mountain experience and a good support team. An excellent trekking company with good knowledge of Upper Mustang, the Annaurpuna Circuit and Tilcho Lake area and who can help organise a version of the trek described here is the Nepal-UK run Snow Cat Travel (www.snowcattravel.com). Prices vary widely depending on accommodation types and the level of assistance required.
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How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
Gully Boy
Director: Zoya Akhtar
Producer: Excel Entertainment & Tiger Baby
Cast: Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Kalki Koechlin, Siddhant Chaturvedi
Rating: 4/5 stars
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Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
