Covid 19 coronavirus: Most of England will receive 2021 under the strictest virus measures

British government on Wednesday [UK time] It extended its tighter coronavirus restrictions to more than three-quarters of England’s population, saying that a new, fast-spreading variant of the virus has reached most of the country.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that at midnight, the government’s highest infection warning level 4, it would expand beyond London and the south-east to cover large swaths of central, north and south-west England, including major cities of Manchester and Birmingham.

The move will drastically reduce New Years celebrations in parts of England that are home to 44 million people, or 78 percent of the population. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the government considered imposing a nationwide blockade “intensely” but had decided not to do so for now.

In England Level 4, most people are advised to stay home, they are prohibited from mingling with members of other households either indoors or out, non-essential shops are closed, and restaurants and bars only They can offer take out.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have also implemented heavy lockdown measures.

Hospitals in the hardest hit areas of London and the south of England are increasingly overloaded, and ambulances are unable to unload patients in some hospitals where all beds are taken. There are more people in hospitals with Covid-19 now than at the first peak of the outbreak in April.

Britain has recorded more than 72,500 confirmed deaths from coronavirus, the second highest death toll in Europe after Italy and the sixth highest in the world. The country reported a record number of new confirmed cases on Tuesday, more than 53,000 and 50,023 on Wednesday.

The UK also reported on Wednesday that another 981 people with the coronavirus had died. It was the highest daily number of reported deaths since April, although a delay in reporting followed over the Christmas holidays.

Hancock said Wednesday’s authorization of a second vaccine for use in the UK was good news, but “the rapidly increasing cases and hospitalizations that continue demonstrate the need to act where the virus is spreading.”

He told lawmakers in the House of Commons that the drug regulator’s approval of the vaccine by British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford “brings forward the day when we can lift the restrictions.”

“But … we must act to suppress the virus now, especially as the new variant makes the time between now and then even more difficult.”

In addition to the broader restrictions, the government delayed going back to school after the Christmas break for millions of students. Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said secondary schools in England will not resume teaching in person until January 11.

Most elementary schools will welcome students Monday as planned, though not those in some virus hot spots, including a large part of London.

Johnson said the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and another already in use developed by US drugmaker Pfizer and German company BioNTech mean “there are many reasons for people to be optimistic about spring.”

However, Johnson said, “People should by no means think this is over.”

– AP