British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that England is adopting a national blockade that he hopes will be tough enough to contain a new highly contagious version of Covid-19.
People can leave their homes just to buy essentials, to work if they can’t from home, to exercise, to go to the doctor and to get rid of domestic abuse, he said in an announcement on Monday night. . Elementary schools, high schools and colleges will also move to distance learning on Tuesday, except in rare cases, he said.
“I fully understand the inconvenience and suffering that this change will cause millions of people and parents up and down the country,” Johnson said. “The problem is not that schools are unsafe for children … the problem is that schools can act as vectors of transmission, causing the virus to spread among households.”
Medical officers in the UK have recommended that the country move to the “Level 5” alert level, which means that if the country does not take this measure, the capacity of the National Health Service “can be overwhelmed in 21 days,” Johnson said. .
The changes take place as the UK struggles with a more transmissible version of Covid-19. To date, the country has recorded more than 2.6 million cases of Covid-19 and more than 75,000 associated deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
On Monday, the UK registered 58,784 new cases and now reported more than 50,000 new cases of coronavirus for seven days in a row.
“The number of deaths is 20% in the last week and, unfortunately, will increase even more … With most of the country already under extreme measures, it is clear that we need to do more together to bring this new option under control over time what our vaccines are released. “
Johnson warned earlier on Monday that Britain would have “hard and difficult weeks” and that “there is no question” that tougher measures would be implemented.
Prior to the announcement, more than three-quarters of England lived under “Level 4” restrictions, the country’s toughest level of action.
On Monday afternoon, the leader of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, announced a new order to stay at home for the country’s citizens at midnight. Schools in Scotland will remain closed until early February.
Kier Starmer, the leader of Britain’s main opposition party, posted on Twitter that Johnson “must implement national restrictions within the next 24 hours”.
Coronavirus vaccines are the only bright spot in a pandemic that continues to erupt in Britain and much of the West. The UK launched the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on Monday after launching the Pfizer / BioNTech shot in December.
“There is a huge difference from last year. We are now launching the largest vaccination program in our history,” Johnson said.
If all goes well, Johnson said everyone in the top four priority groups should receive the first two-dose vaccine by mid-February. It includes residents of a nursing home and their caregivers, all those over the age of 70, all front-line social and social workers, and all those who are clinically vulnerable, he said.
“If we manage to vaccinate all those groups, we will eliminate a large number of people from the virus. And, of course, this will eventually allow us to lift many of the restrictions we have endured for so long. “, he said.
The UK government has decided to implement a 12-week delay between the first and second doses of both Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccines in an attempt to cover as much of the population as possible.
The independent scientific advisory group for emergencies in the UK said on Sunday that it approved the move, with conditions, but the British Medical Association criticized the UK’s decision to delay the second dose.