How strict is the UK’s lockdown compared to the rest of Europe?

The UK’s coronavirus lockdown rules look set to become even tighter with Boris Johnson on the brink of approving plans to force some travellers arriving in the UK to quarantine in hotels.

The Prime Minister was said to be discussing the measures with senior ministers on Tuesday ahead of a potential announcement this week.

During a Downing Street news conference last night, a sombre-looking Johnson said he was “deeply sorry” as the UK death rate hit 100,000 coronavirus cases on Tuesday. The PM also said the coronavirus infection rate remain “pretty forbiddingly high” to ease lockdown restrictions.

He said: “It’s fair to say the rate of infection is still pretty forbiddingly high but at a certain stage we will want to be getting things open. What I will be doing in the course of the next few days and weeks is sending out in more detail as soon as we can when and how we want to get things open again.”

The UK has one of the most stringent lockdowns in Europe but there are several countries who have imposed even tighter restrictions. Yahoo News UK looks at the European countries that have the strictest lockdown measures in place based on

According to analysis by Our World in Data, a website run in collaboration between researchers at the University of Oxford and the non-profit organisation Global Change Data Lab, Europe has among the strictest lockdown measures in place across the world.

To measure how tight lockdowns are, the data platform has looked at nine coronavirus response indicators.

These include school closures, workplace closures, cancellation of public events, restrictions on public gatherings, public transport closures, stay-at-home orders, public information campaigns, restrictions on internal movements and international travel controls.

Each indicator is given a value from 0 to 100 – with 100 being the strictest – and an average of all nine scores are taken to establish the country’s lockdown level.

If there are varying levels of restrictions within the country, the index is shown as the response level of the strictest regional lockdown.

The European countries with the strictest lockdown measures at the moment are:

Germany: 85.19

Ireland: 85.19

Cyprus: 84.26

Netherlands: 84.26

Austria: 82.41

UK: 81.48

Greece: 80.56

What measures do these countries have in place?

Germany brought in a new national lockdown in December before extending it until at least January 31.

The measures include the closure of all non-essential shops and schools while people are being urged to work from home and can only meet one other person outside their household.

Other restrictions include a ban on drinking alcohol in public places while people who live in COVID “hotspots” are not allowed to travel more than 15km away from their home.

The UK has also seen all schools, hospitality venues and non-essential shops close while Brits have been ordered to stay at home with restrictions in place until at least February 15.

In Ireland, the government has extended its Level 5 lockdown until March 5, which means all schools, construction sites and non-essential businesses will stay closed until then. People are only allowed to meet one other person outside their household for exercise.

Ireland is also looking at new travel restrictions and those travelling from South Africa and Brazil where Covid variants have been found will face mandatory quarantine when entering the country.

In Austria, all the same major restrictions are in place but there is also a landing ban on flights from the UK, South Africa and Brazil. Hotels are closed, ski lifts have been allowed to reopen for locals.

Greece also has a stringent lockdown with all these central measures as well as a 9pm to 5am curfew although the country has recently announced that high schools will be able to reopen.

Cyprus has a similar lockdown to Greece, including the 9pm to 5am curfew.

Which European countries have freer measures?

Only a handful of large European countries currently have more relaxed measures in place.

Belarus has the least strict lockdown in Europe with a score of 27.78 out of 100 compared to the UK’s at 81.48, according to Our World in Data analysis.

Hotels, restaurants and shops have all remained open and there are currently no travel restrictions in place. Belarus also has one of the lowest reported death rates on the continent.

Meanwhile, the Swiss government has only recently announced the closure of non-essential shops and ordered people to work from home where possible.

According to Our World In Data the country has just a lockdown strictness level of just 58.33 out of 100.

Rebecca Speare-Cole

source:uk.news.yahoo.com