Day: 8 June 2020

Cakes and Ale Back on Sale Sir Toby Belch and the Clown by Keeley Halswelle. But which one's Boris? Boris has earmarked June 22nd as the day when pubs and restaurants across the nation will be allowed to reopen, according to the Mail. This is two weeks ahead of schedule (the original date for the grand reopening was July 4th). The accelerated timetable follows a crunch meeting last Tuesday when the Prime Minister was warned by Business Secretary Alok Sharma that prolonging the shutdown could cost 3.5 million jobs in the hospitality sector. According to Tim Shipman and Arthi Nachiappan in yesterday's Sunday Times, the 3.5 million figure came as a shock to Boris, who is supposed to have said, "Christ!" when told the news. If the Prime Minister was surprised to discover that the lockdown is causing job losses – and will cause many, many more – he hasn't been paying attention. But don't get out the bunting quite yet: those pubs and restaurants that do reopen will only be able to serve customers outside. Not a very appealing prospect, given the current state of the weather. In other news: Britain recorded its lowest daily death toll today since March 22nd, with only 55 new deaths reportedNo new deaths were reported today in Scotland or Northern IrelandBritons should be ...

Police officer shows a visitor how to disinfect his hands against the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at State House in Harare, Zimbabwe, March 19th, 2020. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo Zimbabwe entered lockdown on March 30th, shortly after South Africa had done so, and along similar lines. Many were left wondering what the point of such action was. While middle-class, suburbanite households could manage to remain relatively isolated, those residing in informal townships and high-density areas could ill afford to do so. Large extended families live in cramped quarters that lack running water, and are forced to use communal ablution facilities. Social distancing is simply not feasible. In a country that already suffered from unemployment levels in excess of 90%, the lockdown has greatly added to the economic distress. Few employers have been able to continue paying salaries and there is no benign Chancellor to subsidise those with jobs, let alone those without. While supermarkets were permitted to trade for a limited period each day, informal markets and vendors were initially prohibited from doing so, thus depriving the poorest in society of a relatively cheap source of food as well as a source of income. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that in the high-density suburbs, social distancing has been largely ignored. There have been cases of heavy-handed police intervention but it is ...