英國政府正打算12月2號之後解除英格蘭嘅全國封城，回復三級制封鎖措施。不過嚟緊嘅三級制封鎖，將會比之前更加嚴厲。以下係London Lad 嘅解讀。

With about 1 week to go before the UK’s second lockdown ends on 2 December the government has revealed what will come next.

After 2 December:

• There will not be a ‘stay at home’ requirement
• Shops, gyms, personal care and the leisure sector can re-open
• Churches and temples, weddings and outdoor sport will resume

The tiered approach will come back, meaning that restrictions will be tailored to each area under 3 increasingly restrictive tiers, but all the tiers will be stronger than they were before. The ‘Rule of 6’ will apply in outdoors public spaces but indoors will be interpreted differently in each tier. Read the full rules here.

• Tier 1 (medium alert): Work from home wherever possible.
• Tier 2 (high alert): Pubs and bars must close unless they are serving substantial meals with drinks.
• Tier 3 (very high alert): All hospitality will close except for delivery, takeaway and drive-through. Hotels and other accommodation must close (except for specific exemptions). Indoor entertainment must close

These are the general rules that will apply in England, while Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland may have slight variations.

Soon there will be an announcement on a temporary set of more relaxed rules for Christmas. The government wants these rules to be common to all the nations of the UK, and they are talking about this now.

To be honest, in my opinion the virus is far from under control and relaxation at Christmas will make it a lot worse. Let’s hope that the vaccination programme that will begin in December rolls out quickly. The end of this awful virus may be in sight, but there are still many months of social distancing, hand-washing and mask-wearing ahead.

Stay safe, everyone!

_{Image: Atoms on Unsplash}