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England could face a total lockdown until Easter with Boris Johnson set to make a decision in the next 24 hours as coronavirus infections continue to rise “out of control”.
Johnson admitted yesterday that the curbs were “probably about to get tougher” despite the fact that three-quarters of England are already at Level 4.
Labor leader Keir Starmer yesterday called for a nationwide shutdown within hours and accused the prime minister of presiding over “chaos”, insisting it was “inevitable” that more schools would have to close.
Other reports suggest that the country’s most vulnerable will be urged to stay home, with the decision on school closures reported to come in the weekends.
It comes as Professor Sir Mark Walport, a member of the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), warned that the new strain “is more easily transmitted in younger age groups.”
(Image: BBC)
With another 54,990 positive tests and 454 deaths on Sunday, some elementary schools will ignore the January 4 reopening and remain closed, despite Johnson’s assurances that the vast majority of schools are safe.
While reiterating that things would eventually improve for the spring, with the recently approved Oxford vaccine launching from Monday, Johnson has admitted that the UK faces a “difficult period ahead”.
He said “tens of millions” would have been inoculated across the country in the next three months, as the UK nears its 12-month anniversary of the first full shutdown on March 23.
(Image: Sky News)
Publicly, the prime minister declared on Sunday that it could be that “we need to do things in the new weeks” to help stem the tide, and admitted that he is mulling over closing more schools.
However, there are reports that it can quickly change direction.
The Daily Telegraph understands that discussions about the return of shielding have already started, and that a new announcement about school closings could come as soon as this week.
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Conversations are understood to include whether specific age groups, such as those over 70, should be grouped together after all vulnerable people in Level 4 areas were told to isolate themselves last month.
While, according to the Daily Mail, the government’s Covid-O committee is said to meet later today to decide whether a third national shutdown is required, or at least expand Level 4 to more areas.
However, the deputies would have to pass a third blockade, and some conservatives already suggest that they would be against the idea.
(Image: Getty Images)
Johnson told the Andrew Marr Show that Downing Street is evaluating whether Level 4 restrictions in two-thirds of the country are strict enough, stressing: “We have to keep things under constant review.”
Another 20 million people across England were forced to apply the highest level of restrictions last week, meaning that non-essential shops and businesses closed and people are simply meeting someone else from a different home on the air. free.
(Image: Getty Images)
Starmer said: “Let’s not make the Prime Minister say, ‘I’m going to do it, but not yet.’
“That is the problem he has raised so many times. National lockdown: The prime minister has hinted that this is going to happen, but he is being delayed again, and we cannot afford that again.
“The longer you delay tough decisions, the worse it is on the health front, the worse it is on the economic front.”
Prompted by Marr on what some of the tougher restrictions are being considered, if not a closure, Johnson “wasn’t going to speculate,” but added that school closings “is one of those things.”
“It’s not something we necessarily want to do,” he said.
(Image: jon Kent / Bristol Live)
Professor Walport told the BBC program that while the new Covid variant does not appear to “cause a worse disease” or be resistant to the vaccine, he said “much stricter social distancing measures” are needed to control the spread.
A No. 10 source told the Daily Mail that the prime minister “has always been clear” that any decision has been driven by the need to “protect the NHS and save lives.”
They accused Labor of “playing party politics” while the “government-specific approach is correct.”
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