Britain’s belated quarantine scheme
The punishment for breaking the new rules is up to ten years in jail
BY FEBRUARY 15th last year, only nine cases of covid-19 had been confirmed in Britain. On that day, the Times reported that the government’s existing flu pandemic strategy suggested closing the country’s borders would be pointless since it would probably hold back the virus by only a couple of weeks. “What we are seeing are the droplets before the wave,” a government official said then. Exactly a year on, as the country’s tally of cases edges over 4m, the flood defences are finally going up.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Grounded”
Britain February 13th 2021
- Boris Johnson’s NHS prescription: more control, less competition
- A secret world of illicit fun
- Britain’s hardening stance on China
- Britons are keen to share their vaccine supplies
- British business is in surprisingly good shape
- Britain’s belated quarantine scheme
- Migration between England, Scotland and Northern Ireland is falling
- The British establishment is the world’s most open—for a price
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