Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

How the UK’s lockdown compares to others around the world

Boris Johnson maintains the UK cannot ease lockdown measures like other countries and that they are at a time of 'maximum risk'

Jack Rathborn
Monday 04 May 2020 15:26 BST
Comments
Coronavirus: Most affected countries around the world

As the UK remains in lockdown, other countries around the world are beginning to ease measures, raising hope that life can start returning to normal.

From reopening schools and shops to enforcing the wearing of masks, each country is taking a different exit route, cautiously watching for a second wave of infections.

The pandemic has had a profound effect all around the world with around 230,000 lives lost in total from Covid-19.

Britain, meanwhile, continues to see its death toll steadily rise with the current figure exceeding 28,000 deaths.

Here we look at the success stories from around the world and how others are starting to adjust lockdown measures as the curve for many begins to flatten.

Schools

Schools were closed across the UK since 20 March, three days before lockdown begun nationwide, though pupils of key workers and vulnerable children can continue to attend.

Norway, meanwhile, has reopened schools, a measure which will impact 250,000 children. Kindergarten classes returned first on Monday 20 April, while Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg rejected suggestions the move meant that the government was allowing a controlled increase in infections and the development of herd immunity.

New Zealand has reopened primary schools, but Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern insists attendance will be voluntary at this stage. Data from the government in New Zealand shows it has been almost three weeks since the country experienced more than 18 daily new cases of Covid-19 with 29 discovered on 11 April, there have only been a single-digit numbers of new cases since 18 April, and on Monday it recorded no new cases at all for the first time since February. By comparison, the government in the UK has confirmed at least 3,634 new daily cases of the virus throughout the entirety of April.

While the data in Norway is much closer to New Zealand than UK, with only three days in three weeks presenting more than 100 new cases of the virus and two weeks since a day where the new daily total has exceeded 100 new cases, according to Norwegian newspaper VG.

China has opted for a staggered reopening of schools, with Beijing admitting up to 50,000 third-year students back to schools in order to better prepare for the important university entrance exam known as the gaokao. Denmark, too, has opted to allow certain year groups back, while others must continue to study at home.

Elsewhere, pupils are also set to return to schools in France and Switzerland from 11 May.

While Belgium will reopen schools from 18 May, though they have put in place restrictions with no more than 10 children allowed in each class, in addition to at least four square meters (43 square feet) of space. Ontario in Canada meanwhile are taking a more cautious approach to reopening schools, announcing they will remain shut until 29 May.

Jacinda Ardern has begun to lift lockdown measures in New Zealand

Shops

Only essential retailers have been operating in the UK since lockdown, but those restrictions have been quietly eased in recent days. The DIY chain Homebase has reopened 20 branches as part of a trial period, with Pret reopening some stores in hospitals, though the vast majority of shops remain closed.

Austria begun reopening shops two weeks ago and currently has just 2,043 active cases of the virus, according to the government, while there are 138,780 in the UK.

In Greece however, which has overseen handled the pandemic impressively, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is set to reopen small shops and hairdressers, which will operate under appointment-only basis and include a maximum number of clients in each salon.

After schools were shut down on 10 March with teaching quickly moved online – two weeks before the UK – restaurants, bars, gyms, cinemas and commercial shops followed up to 18 March. But the country is now at a point where measures can be relaxed after just 2,534 cases and 136 fatalities, as of Tuesday, therefore representing a success story in Europe. The relaxation of measures will not include churches yet though, which will follow at a later date, though bank ATMs will operate at migrant reception centers next week to limit the movements of residents.

A quick response to the spreading of the virus in the Czech Republic, which included the announcement of a state of emergency before the first official death, enabled the number of fatalities to be limited to 221. It has enabled Prime Minister, Karel Havliceksome to allow shops to reopen, including cycle stores, repair shops and hardware and DIY stores, to reopen since 9 April.

Belgium are rolling out new measures: initially fabric shops will open from 4 May, to help people adhere to new regulations requiring all Belgians 12 years old or over to wear masks on public transport, before all shops will open once again from 11 May.

Green Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis wears a mask out in public 

Masks

Chancellor Angela Merkel said last week that the country was “still at the beginning” and “on the thinnest ice”, with Germans now mandated to use cloth masks on public transport and in most shops in the 16 states, though Berlin is an exception.

The UK are still aligning with the World Health Organisation’s advice that masks are not necessary unless you are sick or caring for those people, though London Mayor Sadiq Khan insists Londoners should wear “non-surgical face masks” to stop the spread of Covid-19.

While the WHO’s stance remains largely unchanged over masks, they have issued further guidelines and criteria to use when assessing what measures to take regarding masks.

A WHO spokesperson told The Independent: “We encourage countries that are considering the use of masks for the general population to study their effectiveness, so we can all learn from their experience.”

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has made masks compulsory on public transport and in secondary schools for when it begins easing lockdown measures from 11 May, while Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte confirmed the government will place a cap on the price of face masks at 50 cents (£0.44).

Members of the public wear protective masks in London, UK, 26 April 2020. (Getty)

Social distancing

If Britons go out then they should “remain two metres (six feet) away from other people at all times”.

Australia did appear to be gaining momentum towards relaxing social distancing after reopening Coogee, Clovelly and Maroubra beaches. But Randwick City Council has already closed the beaches once more following a surge of crowds to the beaches.

The council said: “A lot of the locals are doing the right thing, but with such a nice day we saw a lot of families coming down for a splash in the water,” a spokesperson for Randwick Council told 7NEWS.

“Most people were cooling down in the water, which is not exercise. That’s not the purpose.”

Sweden’s Prime Minister Stefan Lofven implemented a light-touch strategy, which attracted criticism when compared to the country’s Nordic neighbours. Restaurants and businesses have remained open and no restrictions have been placed on how often or for what reason people decide to leave their homes.

People sit at a cafe terrasse in central Stockholm, Sweden on 11 April 

Exercise

UK guidelines over exercise have been revised to avoid unnecessary travel, specifying that people should exercise “as close as possible” to home. Cyclists should only go a “reasonable walking distance from home”, while those who are driving to go and exercise should not unless absolutely necessary.

Slovenia has taken the decision to allow certain outdoor sports that do not require participants to be in close proximity, such as golf and tennis, which is contrary to the UK, though that could be about to change after Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden admitted the situation was being reassessed.

The Czech Republic has already rolled out a similar policy for outdoor sports such as tennis and golf on the provision that no more than two people played together.

Elsewhere, measures in Spain are gradually being eased with “short walks and exercise” permitted from 2 May following a stretch of very strict quarantine, which included a six-week period where children were forbidden from going outside.

And Children in the Netherlands are now permitted to exercise outdoors with Prime Minister Mark Rutte describing the measures taken so far as an "intelligent lockdown" with 10 days since the last new daily number of Covid-19 cases exceeding 1,000.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in