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LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday ordered England into a brand new nationwide lockdown to attempt to gradual a surge in Covid-19 instances that threatens to overwhelm elements of the well being system earlier than a vaccine programme reaches a essential mass.
Johnson stated a brand new, extra contagious variant of the coronavirus was spreading at nice velocity and pressing motion was wanted to gradual it down.
“As I speak to you tonight, our hospitals are under more pressure from Covid than any time since the start of the pandemic,” Johnson stated in a televised handle to the nation as he ditched his regional method to combating the pandemic.
“With most of the country already under extreme measures, it’s clear that we need to do more together to bring this new variant under control.
“We should subsequently go right into a nationwide lockdown, which is hard sufficient to include this variant. That means the federal government is as soon as once more instructing you to remain at dwelling.”
Johnson said the measures would include school closures from Tuesday and rules requiring most people to stay at home apart from essential shopping, exercise and other limited exceptions.
He said that if the timetable of the vaccination programme went as planned and the number of cases and deaths responded to the lockdown measures as expected, it should be possible to start moving out of lockdown by the middle of February.
However, he urged caution about the timetable.
NEW VACCINE LAUNCHED
As Britain grapples with the world’s sixth highest death toll and cases hit a new high, the country’s chief medical officers said the spread of COVID-19 risked overwhelming parts of the health system within 21 days.
The surge in cases has been driven by the new variant of Covid-19, officials say, and while they acknowledge that the pandemic is spreading more quickly than expected, they say there is also light at the end of the tunnel – vaccinations.
Johnson’s government earlier touted a scientific “triumph” as Britain became the first country in the world to start vaccinating its population with Oxford University and AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 shot.
Dialysis patient Brian Pinker on Monday received the first vaccination outside of a trial.
“I’m so happy to be getting the Covid vaccine at this time and actually proud that it’s one which was invented in Oxford,” stated the 82-year-old retired upkeep supervisor, only a few hundred metres from the place the vaccine was developed.
But even with the vaccines being rolled out, the variety of Covid-19 instances and deaths hold rising.
More than 75,000 individuals within the United Kingdom have died from Covid-19 inside 28 days of a optimistic take a look at for the reason that begin of the pandemic. A report 58,784 new instances of the coronavirus had been reported on Monday.
Moving just a few hours forward of Johnson, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon imposed probably the most stringent lockdown for Scotland since final spring.
The devolved administration in Wales stated all faculties and schools there ought to transfer to on-line studying till Jan. 18.
Johnson stated a brand new, extra contagious variant of the coronavirus was spreading at nice velocity and pressing motion was wanted to gradual it down.
“As I speak to you tonight, our hospitals are under more pressure from Covid than any time since the start of the pandemic,” Johnson stated in a televised handle to the nation as he ditched his regional method to combating the pandemic.
“With most of the country already under extreme measures, it’s clear that we need to do more together to bring this new variant under control.
“We should subsequently go right into a nationwide lockdown, which is hard sufficient to include this variant. That means the federal government is as soon as once more instructing you to remain at dwelling.”
Johnson said the measures would include school closures from Tuesday and rules requiring most people to stay at home apart from essential shopping, exercise and other limited exceptions.
He said that if the timetable of the vaccination programme went as planned and the number of cases and deaths responded to the lockdown measures as expected, it should be possible to start moving out of lockdown by the middle of February.
However, he urged caution about the timetable.
NEW VACCINE LAUNCHED
As Britain grapples with the world’s sixth highest death toll and cases hit a new high, the country’s chief medical officers said the spread of COVID-19 risked overwhelming parts of the health system within 21 days.
The surge in cases has been driven by the new variant of Covid-19, officials say, and while they acknowledge that the pandemic is spreading more quickly than expected, they say there is also light at the end of the tunnel – vaccinations.
Johnson’s government earlier touted a scientific “triumph” as Britain became the first country in the world to start vaccinating its population with Oxford University and AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 shot.
Dialysis patient Brian Pinker on Monday received the first vaccination outside of a trial.
“I’m so happy to be getting the Covid vaccine at this time and actually proud that it’s one which was invented in Oxford,” stated the 82-year-old retired upkeep supervisor, only a few hundred metres from the place the vaccine was developed.
But even with the vaccines being rolled out, the variety of Covid-19 instances and deaths hold rising.
More than 75,000 individuals within the United Kingdom have died from Covid-19 inside 28 days of a optimistic take a look at for the reason that begin of the pandemic. A report 58,784 new instances of the coronavirus had been reported on Monday.
Moving just a few hours forward of Johnson, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon imposed probably the most stringent lockdown for Scotland since final spring.
The devolved administration in Wales stated all faculties and schools there ought to transfer to on-line studying till Jan. 18.
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