Full Lockdown Announced in England Until Mid-February
Prime Minister Boris Johnson on 4th January 2021 said that people in England will return to a full coronavirus lockdown, possibly until mid-February, to cut spiralling infection rates.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on 4th January 2021 said that about 56 million people in England will return to a full coronavirus lockdown, possibly until mid-February, to cut spiralling infection rates. He said that will close from Wednesday 6th January 2021.
Some 44 million people or three-quarters of the population of England are already living under the toughest restrictions but it has failed to halt an upward trend in positive cases, which have been blamed on a more infectious new variant.
Johnson said that as on 4th January, almost 27,000 people with Covid were in hospital which is 40 percent more than at the peak of the first wave in April last year. Last Tuesday 29th December 2020, more than 80,000 people tested positive in just 24 hours.
The new measures are similar to those during the first, three-month lockdown in March last year. These include the closure of schools, working from home wherever possible, limits on leaving home, except for exercise, essential shopping and for medical supplies, and no household mixing.
Johnson added that a decision on whether to hold annual national exams for 16 and 18-year-olds will be made after consultations between the education secretary.
Shortly before Johnson's announcement, the four chief medical officers of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland said the country had moved to the highest coronavirus level five that means that the National Health Service is at risk of being overwhelmed within 21 days if no action is taken.
Johnson said he hoped the restrictions could start to be lifted in mid-February as two vaccines including one developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, which could see the four most vulnerable groups inoculated in the next six weeks.
