At the end of July, health secretary Matt Hancock introduced new restriction measures for the Greater Manchester area after cases of the deadly pandemic began to soar. The decision was widely criticised by Labour MPs.
Shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy, the Labour MP for Wigan, tweeted the news out and urged for more information on the new measures.
Ms Nandy said: “Told tonight this applies to homes AND gardens but you can still visit public spaces where social distancing measures are in place.
“People will have a lot of questions and we are pressing for more information quickly.
“It is really hard but please follow advice and stay safe.”
Lucy Powell, Labour MP for Manchester Central, said the news had led to “many questions”.
“My understanding is that this is a precautionary measure to stop people going to other households,” she said.
“It doesn’t affect other activities like travel, childcare, going to work, hairdressers etc.”
With Jim McMahon, Labour MP for Oldham West & Royton, tweeting: “On the face of it, for Oldham borough residents this is the same restriction announced already this week, replicated in further areas.
READ MORE: BBC News row breaks out over Labour mayor’s ‘political power grab’
Speaking at a media brief, Mr Ghebreyesus said: “Over the last few days, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson put areas of northern England under stay at home notifications, as clusters of cases were identified.
“In France, President Macron introduced compulsory masking in busy outdoor spaces of Paris in response to an increase in cases.
“Strong and precise measures like these, in combination with utilising every tool at our disposal are key to preventing any resurgence in disease and allowing societies to be reopened safely.
“Even in countries where transmission is intense, it can be brought under control by applying an all of government, all of society response.
“Chains of transmission have been broken by combination of rapid case identification, comprehensive contact tracing, adequate clinical care for patients, physical distancing, mask wearing, regular cleaning of hands and coughing away from others.
“Whether countries or regions have successfully eliminated the virus, suppressed transmission to a low level, or are still in the midst of a major outbreak; now is the time to do it all, invest in the basics of public health and we can save both lives and livelihoods.”
Mr Ghebreyesus went on to say there is a glimmer of hope and said it’s “never too late to turn the outbreak around”.
He said: “But I want to be clear, there are green shoots of hope and no matter where a country, a region, a city or a town is – it’s never too late to turn the outbreak around.
“There are two essential elements to addressing the pandemic effectively: Leaders must step up to take action and citizens need to embrace new measures.”
The UK has the highest death toll across the whole of Europe and yesterday recorded more than 1,000 new cases in a day for the first time since June.
