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Scotland will enter a new lockdown and people will be ordered to stay home during January to deal with the growing Covid-19 crisis, Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon said.
Sturgeon told the Scottish parliament that starting at midnight, people will face a legal requirement to stay home except for essential purposes, similar to the lockdown imposed at the start of the pandemic in March last year.
“The situation is extremely serious,” he said.
Sturgeon said schools will be closed for most students until February, which means an additional two weeks of learning at home for most students.
The Scottish government had already announced that the holiday break was to be extended until January 11, and ministers had originally planned distance learning until January 18.
However, schools will remain open for the children of key workers who cannot work from home and for vulnerable young people.
It comes as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is under mounting pressure to announce new immediate coronavirus lockdown measures in England, where he has acknowledged that there is “no question” that tougher measures are needed.
Johnson said he would act “in due course” and “will do whatever it takes.”
The UK Government hopes that the arrival of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine will change the course of the fight against coronavirus.
Johnson warned that “tough” weeks are ahead as cases continue to rise.
The latest data shows a 41% increase in the number of confirmed coronavirus patients in a hospital in England between Christmas Day and January 3, figures that have caused alarm.
“If you look at the numbers, there is no question that we will have to take stricter action and announce them in due course,” Johnson said during a visit to Chase Farm Hospital in North London.
With 78% of England’s population already under the toughest restrictions today, ministers are examining the success of the Level 4 measures, which came into effect for the first time on December 20.
The launch of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine, which is easier to distribute than the other approved Pfizer / BioNTech jab, could provide a route out of further blockages, but it could take months before enough of them have received their first injection. .
Ministers have said the NHS has the capacity to deliver two million doses a week of the Oxford vaccine, but supplies are limited.
While about 530,000 doses will be available starting today, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said tens of millions more will be delivered in the coming weeks and months once the quality of the batches has been verified.
Johnson said: “We have the capacity, the problem has to do with the supply of the vaccine.”
“It is not so much of a manufacturing problem, although it is part of it.
“Each batch must be properly approved and quality controlled.”
Meanwhile, uncertainty continued surrounding the reopening of England’s primary schools this week.
Johnson said “the risk to children is very, very small” and “the risk to teachers is no greater than it is to anyone else.”
Education unions have urged the government to “halt” the return to the classroom until the safety of staff and students can be guaranteed.
Dr. Mike Tildesley, a member of the SPI-M modeling group that advises the government, warned that school closings would not be enough to get the R number, the virus’s reproduction rate, below one without better public adherence. to the broader restrictions.
Johnson urged the public to abide by the rules in his area despite the frustration the restrictions caused.
“We will do everything possible to keep the virus under control and the people should have no doubt that the government will do whatever is necessary,” the prime minister said.
“But I must emphasize at this critical moment that it is vital that people remain disciplined.”
In London, one of the first areas to enter Level 4, the case rates are the highest in England.
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