British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said tougher measures will be needed to combat the pandemic, including school closures.
In an interview with the BBC’s Andrew Marr on Sunday, Johnson did not explain what further action might be needed and rejected criticism that his government was too slow to act as the more contagious form of the virus spreads rapidly. all the country. .
“We may need to do things in the coming weeks that are tougher in many parts of the country,” Johnson said. “The UK is facing a new variant of the virus, which is growing especially in London and the south-east and that is why we have had to take exceptional measures for some parts.”
One of the biggest questions the government is now facing is how to manage the reopening of the school at a time when virus cases in the UK exceed 50,000 a day. The Johnson administration has tried to maintain personal classes in England throughout the pandemic, and on Sunday the prime minister tried to reassure parents that schools are safe and that the virus poses a low risk to young people.
“We have kept schools for a long, long time in areas where the pandemic is at very high levels,” Johnson said. “We need to keep things under constant review, but we will be guided not by any political considerations, but entirely by the issue of public health.”
Johnson’s statements contrast sharply with warnings from teachers’ unions, which have told members not to return to classrooms. In London, which has one of the highest levels of Covid-19 infections per capita, the government has ordered all primary schools to remain closed for the start of the new term this week.
Forced to withdraw
During the pandemic, the British government was forced to back down several times to reopen the economy, especially as the winter recurrence of the virus pushes public health services one step further. Most recently, Johnson was forced to activate plans that would have relaxed the rules of social distancing from Christmas.
When asked about Britain’s plans for mass vaccinations, Johnson did not provide details on how the country will be able to deliver 2 million vaccines a week.
“Everyone is trying to do that,” he said. “We do the hope that we will be able to make tens of millions in the next three months. “
In Scotland, Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon has called for the Edinburgh parliament to be recalled on Monday so that it can put in place additional measures to reduce growing infections. At this time, schools are due to return for face-to-face teaching on January 18, after an extended Christmas break.
Covid-19 newspapers grew daily, and Sturgeon said the country was facing the most critical weeks since the beginning of the pandemic. The new strain accounts for four out of 10 new infections, a University of Edinburgh public health expert told the BBC.
“With the assistance of Rodney Jefferson.”
(Updates against the background of blocking rules in the sixth paragraph.)