British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ordered a new national lockdown for England to prevent the spread of the new Covid-19 variant.
In his announcement, Johnson stressed that people can only go outside for essentials, work if they cannot do so from home, exercise, a doctor's appointment, and escape from domestic abuse.
Remote learning will start for primary schools, secondary schools, and colleges Tuesday, except in rare cases, he said.
“I completely understand the inconvenience and distress this change will cause millions of people and parents up and down the country,” Johnson said. “The problem isn’t that schools are unsafe for children ... the problem is that schools may act as vectors of transmission, causing the virus to spread between households.”
The U.K.’s top medical authorities urged that the country impose an alert level 5, which means that if the country does not take action, the National Health Service capacity “may be overwhelmed in 21 days,” Johnson said.
Johnson's announcement about the new national lockdown for England comes as the U.K. faces a more transmissible variant of Covid-19. The country has posted over 2.6 million coronavirus cases and more than 75,000 related deaths, based on the data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
The U.K. posted 58,784 new infections and has now recorded over 50,000 new Covid-19 cases for seven days in a row.
“The number of deaths is up by 20% over the last week and will sadly rise further. ... With most of the country already under extreme measures, it’s clear that we need to do more together to bring this new variant under control while our vaccines are rolled out,” Johnson said, stressing that the mutated strain could be 50% to 70% more contagious.
According to Johnson, the U.K. had “tough, tough weeks to come” and there was “no question” stricter measures would be carried out.
More than three-quarters of England were currently living under the strictest level of restrictions.
Meanwhile, Scotland’s leader, Nicola Sturgeon, introduced a new stay-at-home measure for the country’s citizens from midnight. Schools in Scotland will not operate until the beginning of February.
Keir Starmer, leader of the U.K.’s main opposition Labour Party, said on Twitter that Johnson “must put national restrictions in place within the next 24 hours.”
UK mass vaccination
Covid-19 vaccines remain the only hope in a pandemic that still spreads across the U.K. and much of the West.
The UK mass vaccination with AstraZeneca-Oxford shots began on Monday as the country fights the coronavirus pandemic.
“There’s one huge difference compared to last year. We’re now rolling out the biggest vaccination program in our history,” Johnson said.
Johnson explained that those in the top four priority sectors must be inoculated first by the middle of February. The list covers residents in a care home and their caregivers, people over the age of 70, all front-line health, and social workers as well as those who are clinically vulnerable, he said.
“If we succeed in vaccinating all those groups, we will have removed huge numbers of people from the path of the virus. And of course, that will eventually enable us to lift many of the restrictions we have endured for so long,” he said.
He warned that the coming weeks will be the toughest yet, “but I really do believe that we’re entering the last phase of the struggle because with every jab that goes into our arms, we are tilting the odds against Covid and in favor of the British people,” he said. “I know how tough this is and I know how frustrated you are and I know that you’ve had more than enough of government guidance about defeating this virus. But now, more than ever, we must pull together.”
