The nation reaches the grim milestone as it adds a million new cases at its fastest rate yet
More than 600 people gathered in the center of Manchester, in northern England, at the weekend to protest a new national lockdown that requires the closure of bars, restaurants, and non-essential retail, and forbids household mixing until December 2.
Greater Manchester Police condemned the demonstrations, on Sunday, which they said led to several officers getting injured. Four people were arrested.
“Both the organisers and attendees were irresponsible — increasing demand on police who are also responding to calls regarding serious incidents and people who are in immediate danger,” the police force said in a statement.
England is five days into its second nationwide lockdown, but with crowded parks, busy streets, and bustling markets, some residents told CNN it doesn’t feel like a lockdown at all.
The first lockdown, in the spring, saw deserted streets and strict enforcement of masks and social distancing in supermarkets. Not this time around, said Mhairi Fletcher, who lives in Essex, in southeast England.
“I went to the shop the other day, and I wanted to avoid it because of how it was last time. I genuinely went in thinking it was going to be militant. But it was honestly like there was no lockdown,” Fletcher told CNN. “I’ve seen hardly any difference.”
Fletcher, who is expecting her second child, noted that during the first lockdown, maternity wards took her temperature, asked about symptoms and required her to wash her hands.
“Today I just had to sanitize and that’s it,” she said. “It doesn’t feel like a lockdown.”
Ross Lennox, a trainee lawyer, spotted a bustling street market in Clapham, South London, over the weekend.
“Everyone had masks on that I could see, but not much social distancing at all and no one was enforcing it,” Lennox said. “Without masks, you wouldn’t know there was a pandemic.”
