Fri 26 March 2021:
UK lawmakers on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a six-month extension of the Coronavirus Act, the legislation that gives the government emergency powers to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, despite opposition from Conservative backbenchers.
Members of Parliament voted 484-76 in favor of prolonging the legislation until September.
The Coronavirus Act came into force back in March 2020 as part of the UK government’s attempts to curb the spread of COVID-19 during the pandemic’s first wave.
The laws gave ministers wide-ranging powers to close businesses, detain individuals deemed at risk of spreading the disease, and allowed for the retention of residents’ data for health and security purposes.
Dozens of Conservative lawmakers announced their opposition to the extension of the legislation during a House of Commons debate on Thursday afternoon.
The Labour Party indicated ahead of the debate that its lawmakers would support the prolongation of the Coronavirus Act.
Ahead of Thursday’s vote, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that 12 provisions, including the obligations placed on businesses in the food supply chain, would be removed from the Coronavirus Act altogether.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson placed England under its third national lockdown back in January as the country battled a surge in COVID-19 cases that followed the discovery of a new disease variant in the county of Kent.
Johnson is expected to hold a press conference this coming Monday to mark the previously-announced easing of COVID-19 lockdown measures.
