Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

Does the data support renewing Covid emergency powers?

Last night MPs voted by 484 to 76 to renew the Coronavirus Act, which grants the state emergency powers to further control – and shut down – most parts of society. The Liberal Democrats voted against the extension, along with 35 Conservative MPs who rebelled and voted against the government, citing as their main concern the widening gap between these unprecedented powers and the danger Covid-19 presents in the UK. The latest iteration of the bill has been renewed until September – three months after the last date in Boris Johnson’s roadmap – and includes the toughest restrictions on international travel yet.

When the Prime Minister announced his roadmap out of lockdown last month, he pledged that ultimately his decisions would be driven by ‘data, not dates.’ So what story is the data telling us, after MPs voted to renew these emergency powers again?

Covid infections

The seven-day average for Covid infections in the UK has fallen by over 90 per cent since the January peak, with cases now hovering around where they were in mid-September last year.

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