UK Today in Coronavirus
The UK Government are looking into what groups to prioritize next after vaccinations of the top vulnerable groups are completed. Such groups suggested and being considered include teachers, police, and also shop workers as well. Personally I think police should be one of the immediate priorities next as they are obviously in a lot greater contact with others in their attempts to enforce coronavirus restrictions and so it only makes sense that they should be one of the next groups to follow. The next most obvious are frontline NHS staff and other care & social workers who are currently still out working essentially.
And of course the other obvious ones are shop workers that are employed within shops that are considered essential and so this specific grouping should in my opinion be another immediate priority in the next phase, especially those workers out delivering shopping and other products as well.
It has been announced by the chairman of the National Police Chiefs’ Council that 45,000 fines have been given out to people still refusing to follow the lattest coronavirus lockdown rules. Boris Johnson has said more may have to be done if Ministers believe that current restrictions are not being observed. The question of how far people can travel while exercising has also come about.
It is also being warned that the pressures on the NHS may not begin to improve until March, which is still quite a while away, and there are also fears now that true new coronavirus cases are as high as 250,000 a day, which would be a massive increase. Boris Johnson is also coming under increasing pressure to announce that coronavirus restrictions will be rolled-down from 8th March onwards, which would be three weeks after the deadline to vaccinate the four most vulnerable groups.
Problems with rolling down restrictions would likely take into account whether NHS pressures still remain and whether the vaccine actually prevents infection of others, although the vaccine can stop a person from becoming sick it isn’t yet known if it stops that person from spreading the virus to others unknowingly.
Pressures on the NHS are currently so high that the government is looking into possibly discharging patients early into hotels and/or their homes is being considered, in a bid to free up swamped hospitals.
The Prime Minister also caused friction with China after speculating on the origins of the coronavirus in a speech to an environmental summit at the start of the week. Currently there are efforts to get international teams into China in an attempt to trace the origins of the disease around where it is thought to have first begun, but such attempts have faced frustrating delays.
Latest BREXIT Impacts
What many people may not realize is that one of the other immediate effects of BREXIT is following new border rules between non-EU and EU states. One such UK driver found this out after he had his ham sandwiches confiscated at the Dutch border. Under EU law non-EU citizens travelling into the EU are not allowed to bring meat or dairy products with them and are limited to bringing a small amount of fruit, vegetables, honey and fish.
Those carrying undeclared meat and dairy products into the EU can be fined or even prosecuted, and such items will be confiscated and destroyed. Such measures are in place to prevent diseases such as foot and mouth and swine flu. So people are either going to have to get more creative using only allowed-items or they will have to buy their food within the EU when travelling there rather than bringing anything with them. Maybe a tuna sandwich will suffice next time?
UK Angers China over Uighur Treatment
The UK Government announced new measures against China related to its treatment of Uighur Muslims in the country which the UK government as called “barbarism”. The UK Government says that there is clear evidence of internment camps, forced labour, arbitrary detention and even forced sterilization.
The new measures include stopping UK companies from trading with Chinese companies that are connected to forced labour. Other measures include a review of export measures applying to Xinjiang province, where such atrocities are taking place, preventing sales of goods that may contribute to human rights abuses and giving guidance to companies setting out links there, UK public bodies will be given support to exclude supplies that are linked to human rights abuses. There will also be fines for UK companies that fail to publish annual slavery statements.
China has long denied allegations of Uighur abuse but has at the same time refused access to human rights organisations, journalists and independent monitors.
The UK has also in recent times taken other measures against China including limited sanctions over the Hong Kong Security law and banning the Chinese telecoms Huawei from taking part in 5G implementation in the UK.
Uganda Blocks Social Media Platforms Ahead of Presidential Election
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Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is seeking yet another term for President, having ruled the country since 1986, being one of Africa’s longest serving leaders. He has been previously condemned for elections that are not free or fair, voter intimidation and violence, widespread corruption and human rights abuses. Museveni made various changes to the country’s constitution that allowed him to run for an unlimited number of terms and has removed other restrictions.
But this year the President is facing one of his toughest opponents yet, a former pop-star called Bobi Wine who has managed to rally a significant following of mostly younger people in the country. Despite this he is still expected to lose against the long-time serving leader, with one reason being due to the President and government abusing authority to restrict freedoms in the country, especially under the guise of coronavirus. Campaigning has also been restricted, with Bobi Wine unable to campaign on the streets, and is also not allowed to put up posters, billboards or use TV and radio – these last few clearly are not down to coronavirus.
Bobi Wine was previously detained in November last year for apparently breaking COVID regulations, this led to heated protests in multiple towns. Police, soldiers and gunmen dressed in plainclothes were deployed to disperse protesters, leading to as many as 54 deaths and over 1,000 arrests.
All social media and messaging apps have also been blocked by the country’s telecommunications regulator in the run-up to the election, which could be a strong measure to prevent protests and possible violence in the country after the election, as well as hinder Bobi Wine’s social media influence which is larger than the President’s, it also comes after Facebook shutdown government-linked accounts.
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