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Boris Johnson has raised the possibility of even stricter lockdown measures, including school closings, being imposed in England in the coming weeks to halt the rise in Covid-19 rates.
Amid concerns about pressure on the NHS and the increased transmissibility of the new coronavirus variant, the prime minister revealed that he was “completely reconciled” with the possibility of having to “do things in the coming weeks that will be more difficult.” .
He also acknowledged that coronavirus restrictions were “probably about to get tougher.”
Almost eight in 10 people in England are already under Level 4 ‘stay at home’ measures, which include the closure of non-essential shops and strict limits on outdoor gatherings between homes, but Johnson suggested more restrictions could be introduced. strict.
When asked if there might be a need to introduce stricter “level 5” restrictions in the near future, Johnson told the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show on Sunday: “We may have to do things in the next few weeks that will be more difficult in… Many parts of the country… I am totally reconciled with that. [is that] the people of this country are reconciled to that. “
Coronavirus cases in the UK
When asked what “tougher” might mean, Johnson said: “Until the vaccine goes live on a massive scale, we will fight this virus with the same set of tools.”
Pressed again on what it might mean and whether, for example, it might include March-style restrictions or a curfew similar to that introduced in other countries at a new level 5, Johnson replied: “You have talked about level 5, no I didn’t say that, but obviously there are a number of … stricter measures that we should consider. “
When asked what they would be, the prime minister said: “I’m not going to speculate now what they could be, but I’m sure all of our viewers or listeners will understand … clearly, the school closings, which we had to do in March, it’s one of those … things. It’s not something we necessarily want to do. “
Acknowledging that the situation was “very difficult”, Johnson added: “We are fully reconciled to doing whatever it takes to eliminate the virus and that may mean tougher measures … in the coming weeks.”
“What we’re doing now is using the tier system, which is a very difficult system… and sadly, it’s probably about to get harder to keep things under control. But we will review it. “
He added: “And we have the prospect of vaccines coming down the track in their tens of millions … and that, I think, is something that should keep people in what I predicted, on their show in October, it will be very period. bumpy right now. There are potholes and there are going to be potholes. “
Despite warning of stricter measures on the horizon, and under pressure from education unions, Johnson separately urged parents to send their children to elementary schools Monday in areas of the country where they are still scheduled to open. .
Sir Mark Walport, who is part of Sage (the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies) and was previously the UK government’s chief scientific adviser, said it was “pretty clear” that more restrictions would be needed to prevent transmission of the virus.
“It’s going to be very, very difficult to be in control without much stricter social distancing measures,” he told Marr.
Those measures could include school closings, he said, adding: “We know that transmission occurs within schools, we know that a person between the ages of 12 and 16 is seven times more likely than other people in a household to carry the infection to a home, and we know that there was a small drop in the amount of transmission in the schoolchildren after the semester, which then rose again when they returned ”.
Minutes from Sage’s meeting on Dec. 22 showed the group feared that even with the total closure and closure of all schools, it might not bring the R number below one in the presence of the new variant.
