Last night Prime Minister Boris Johnson placed the United Kingdom in lockdown, granting the police more power as he urged people to remain at home.
In a statement the PM gave at 8:30pm last night, he urged people to remain home. Only travelling outside their household in certain circumstances such as travelling to work (if you are a key worker’), for exercise (once a day) and to buy the essential items you may need.
In light of this, the Silverlink Retail Park in Wallsend was eerily quiet at 11am, a time in which it is normally buzzing and packed with shoppers.
Seemingly, in fear of receiving some sort of punishment, the majority of residents around North Tyneside have finally taken note and remained inside their homes. Across social media yesterday, videos were posted online showing the queues of people waiting to get their final McDonalds before it closed for the foreseeable future.
The Prime Minister’s statement also mentioned that all non-essential shops such as clothing stores would close as a measure to slow down the spread of COVID-19.
From here, it is a three week wait until the lockdown could be lifted and normal life could start to get moving again.