Britain reviewing covid-fighting options including London lockdown

London:The UK is looking at all options for tackling flare-ups of the coronavirus and will use regional data to target its response, Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick said, following newspaper reports that a London-wide lockdown is being considered if cases spike in the capital.

While Jenrick said he wasn’t aware of a plan to seal off London, which the Sunday Times newspaper reported is being considered as a worst-case option by PM Boris Johnson's inner circle of advisers, he said restrictions introduced in the northwest of England late Thursday show ministers will act where and when it’s necessary.

“We don't want to do anything that's a blanket approach across the country; our strategy is to manage this in a localised way with targeted action,” Jenrick told Times Radio.


“We will restrict in certain areas but it provides greater freedom for the rest of the country, for businesses to reopen and people to get on with their daily lives.”

Ministers are seeking to balance the need to damp down flare-ups of the virus while rebooting the UK economy. Jenrick denied newspaper reports of plans to close pubs and said restrictions on the movements of everyone over the age of 50 is “not something being actively considered.”