nam 22 uu 4500 10.17176/20200417-182523-0 DE-Verfassungsblog cr||||| 200417s2020||||xx#|||||o|||| ||| 0|eng|| 10.17176/20200417-182523-0 doi eng 342 23 Grogan, Joelle Author aut Right Restriction or Restricting Rights? The UK Acts to Address COVID-19 Grogan, Joelle Verfassungsblog 2020-04-17 Text txt rdacontent Computermedien c rdamedia Online-Ressource cr rdacarrier The UK initially downplayed concerns arising from the spread of COVID-19: Prime Minister Boris Johnson suggesting Britain should ‘take it on the chin’, pursued a policy which introduced no significant measures beyond encouraging hand-washing for 20 seconds. This changed, abruptly, on 12 March. On the same day schools and businesses were shut in Ireland and France, and three days after Italy was locked down, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a move to the delay phase and advised, though did not direct, over-70s to stay home, and travellers to avoid cruises. People should ‘avoid pubs and restaurants’, but they would not be closed. Large gatherings, such as the Cheltenham Festival, would not be prevented from going ahead. On 19 March following the rapid spread of the virus, the government announced that there was ‘zero prospect’ of a lockdown in London which would place limits on peoples’ movement. Four days later, on 23 March, the capital entered lockdown along with the rest of the country. ‘Zero prospect’ had lasted less than four days. funded by the government CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 Coronavirus COVID 19 emergency powers UK Max Steinbeis Verfassungsblog gGmbH Verfassungsblog 2366-7044 https://staging.verfassungsblog.de/right-restriction-or-restricting-rights-the-uk-acts-to-address-covid-19/ raw object