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BORIS Johnson will decide whether all of England will fall back into a strict national lockdown that could last for months in today’s crucial talks.
The prime minister, currently facing calls for another large-scale shutdown of Labor, has already admitted that the current tiered system will become even more difficult.
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And in a few hours he will meet with officials to decide whether the mutant strain of coronavirus emerging in the country will mean a return to a March-style lockdown, with schools closed, non-essential stores closed and most travel banned.
Cabinet sources say they hope that the government’s ‘Covid-O’ committee, which makes decisions on restrictions, will meet to decide next steps to take, the Daily Mail reports.
Johnson is expected to make an assessment of the latest infection figures for Wednesday that will include the first signs of the effect of easing social distancing over Christmas.
Discussions on the return of the shield have already begun, and a new announcement regarding school closings is expected this week, the Telegraph reports.
The prime minister previously warned the British that they will face stricter rules in the coming weeks and refused to rule out ‘Level 5’ restrictions or a full national lockdown.
He said we must be “realistic” about the rate at which the new variant is spreading across the country, but did not reveal any new measures imminent.
Today Sir Keir Starmer said the virus is now “clearly out of control” and urged Johnson to announce a new shutdown tomorrow.
When asked if he was calling for a total shutdown in England, he told Sky News: “National shutdown.
“The Prime Minister hints that this is going to happen, but it is being delayed again and we cannot afford that again.”
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He said the virus is “clearly out of control.”
“The prime minister is hinting that in two to three weeks there are stricter national restrictions. That delay has been the source of so much trouble,” he said.
“It is inevitable that more schools will close, but the most important thing in some way is the national restrictions that must enter in the next 24 hours.”
Separately, the UK Doctors Association, a UK medical professional association, has issued a statement calling for a complete ‘Level 5’ lockdown with the prolonged closure of schools.
In an open letter to the prime minister, the campaign leaders said: “We believe that an additional period of even stricter restrictions is essential to avoid a national disaster, and we now call for the implementation of a full national blockade.”
Sources say discussions are underway about the return of shielding, which could also extend to people in specific age groups, such as those over 70.
Last month, the “clinically extremely vulnerable” were told they should stay home if they lived in Level 4 areas.
And Johnson appeared to suggest that strict measures are imminent during an appearance on The Andrew Marr Show today.
During the interview, he refused to rule out curfews, a return to just one hour of exercise a day and a ban on mixing at home, as well as a total national lockdown.
Serious Warning From Scholars About Mutated Virus
Experts warned that the new super-infectious coronavirus strain was spreading rapidly among children DURING the close of November.
Academics at Imperial College London say the mutated superinfectious strain of Covid was spreading among children during the lockdown in November.
And they warned that only closed schools can keep it contained.
Their study confirms that the new variant is more infectious and the closure did little to contain it.
It was most prevalent among the 10-19-year-old age group and may be nearly 50 percent more transmissible, experts say.
The study has yet to be peer-reviewed, but academics say the R number for the mutation is 0.4 to 0.7 points higher.
Today, Professor Sir Mark Walport, a member of Sage, said it was “pretty clear” that stricter restrictions were needed to control the strain.
The former chief scientific advisor told the BBC’s Andrew Marr program: “These are Level 4 restrictions, you are obeying them.”
“He’s thinking of essentially breaking all possible transmission routes that we can.
“Those are the things that are absolutely necessary and it is quite clear that we are going to need more.”
He said the mutation “is more easily transmitted in younger age groups,” adding: “It’s going to be very difficult to keep it under control without much stricter social restrictions.”
And he said he was “completely reconciled to doing whatever it takes to eliminate the virus.”
Johnson told Marr that while things will look better in the spring, tough days are ahead.
“We may have to do things in the coming weeks that will be more difficult in many parts of the country,” he said.
“I am fully reconciled to that, and I bet the people of this country are reconciled to that because, until the vaccine really goes live on a massive scale, we will fight this virus with the same set of tools.”
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He said officials are keeping things “under constant review”, and asked if the British could limit themselves to one hour of exercise a day, he replied: “Obviously there are a number of stricter measures that we should consider.
“I’m not going to speculate now on what they would be.
“Clearly, the school closings, what we had to do in March, is one of those things. It’s not something we necessarily want to do.”
It occurs amid the chaos in education, hours before children return to school.
Primaries in designated ‘lower risk’ areas will defy government directives to stay open.
The councils of Slough, Norfolk, Greater Manchester and Southampton are among the authorities supporting the decision to close any primary school.
It comes after the Brighton and Hove City Council advised elementary schools not to open, against directives from the Department of Education.
And today, Cumbria’s local director of public health and Kent’s council leader wrote to the government asking that they be allowed to keep their elementary schools closed.
The Essex County Council issued a statement this afternoon announcing that North Essex elementary schools would be remote learning only, while several schools in Derbyshire, Merseyside and Nottinghamshire decided not to open because of Covid fears.
Meanwhile, the Local Government Association (LGA) has asked that principals and city councils be allowed to keep schools closed if they deem it necessary.
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The prime minister today refused to rule out the possibility of the GCSE and A-Level exams being canceled this year.
Asked about testing, he said: “We have to be realistic about the rate at which this new variant has spread.
“We have to be realistic about the impact it is having on our NHS and we have to be humble in the face of this virus.”
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