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Monday, January 4, 2021
The English have to stay home
Johnson imposes a tough blockade until mid-February
The more contagious mutation of the virus is forcing British Prime Minister Johnson to act: as the situation in hospitals is spiraling out of control, all English people have to stay home until mid-February. Scotland is also tightening the measures.
Due to the significantly increasing number of corona infections, far-reaching exit restrictions will again be enforced in England in the future. “We have to impose a blockade on England to get the new Corona variant under control,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a televised speech in the evening. “That means you have to stay home.” The house can only be left for necessary activities like visiting the doctor or working. Schools have to close, recreational sports are no longer allowed. Johnson said the measures would likely remain in effect until mid-February. Parliament will debate the closure on Wednesday and broad bipartisan approval is expected. The other parts of the country have similar strict measures.
More recently, Britain had always announced new records of new infections, on Monday there were almost 59,000. The number of deaths has increased by 20 percent, that of Covid patients in clinics is 40 percent higher compared to the peak in the spring, Johnson said. The corona variant discovered in Britain, which is possibly up to 70 percent more contagious than previously known, is spreading in “frustrating and alarming ways,” Johnson said. “Stay home, protect the NHS (health), save lives.”
“Each vaccine changes the course”
Johnson emphasized that he understood the frustration of the population and called for a final joint effort. “The next few weeks will be the most difficult,” said the prime minister. “But I am convinced that we are entering the final phase of the fight because with each vaccine that is injected into our arms, we change course, against Covid and in favor of the British people.”
Britain is now using two coronavirus vaccines. On Monday, 82-year-old dialysis patient Brian Pinker from Oxford was the first to be vaccinated at the local university clinic with the home-grown vaccine from the University of Oxford and the pharmaceutical company Astrazeneca, as announced by the British health service NHS. The vaccine from the Mainz company Biontech and the American company Pfizer has been used for four weeks.
Oxford funds already in use
Johnson saw nurse Susan Cole being vaccinated in London. “He asked me how I was feeling,” the 60-year-old told the PA news agency. “We talked a bit about the importance of vaccination not only for humans, but also to protect others.” At Oxford, the patient Pinker said he was happy to have received the dose. “I am very happy to receive the Covid-19 vaccine today and I am very proud that it was invented in Oxford,” he said, according to the NHS announcement.
British Health Minister Matt Hancock described the initiation of vaccination with the agent as an “indispensable step” in the fight against the pandemic. The second corona vaccine used in the country has a great advantage: the Oxford agent can be stored at refrigerator temperatures, which significantly simplifies logistics. At first, the country will have half a million doses available, which will be injected in hundreds of hospitals and doctors’ offices starting this week. The vaccine is not yet approved in the EU.
Schools closed in Scotland until early February
In Scotland, the new lockdown will apply from Tuesday. Schools here have to be closed until the beginning of February. Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon said that afternoon in Edinburgh. Only children of parents in systemically important professions can still learn on the site; everyone else must learn online. Meetings with other households are limited to two people abroad. People should, as far as possible, stay home. Group sports activities are prohibited and non-essential shops and restaurants must be closed.
Prior to that, Scotland had a multi-tiered control system depending on the infection situation. Sturgeon said she was as concerned about the current situation as when the pandemic started in early March. In recent days, the number of cases in Scotland has skyrocketed and the number of new infections has been over 2,600 multiple times.
