LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ordered England to enter a new national lock to increase COVID-19 cases that threaten to overtake parts of the health system before emergency mass vaccination program.
This news came just hours after the government praised Britain’s success as the first country to start rolling out the vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca against COVID- 19.
Johnson said a new, more contagious version of the coronavirus was first identified in the UK and now present in many other countries spreading at a high speed and immediate action was needed to slow it down.
“As I speak to you tonight, our hospitals are under more pressure from COVID than at any time since the outbreak began,” Johnson said in a televised address on the country.
“With most of the country already under real measures, it is clear that we need to do more together to bring this new change under control,” he said.
“We therefore need to enter a national lock, which is difficult enough to accommodate. That means the government is once again ordering you to stay at home. “
Non-essential shops and hospitality had to remain closed, and primary and secondary schools would close from Tuesday for all pupils except vulnerable children and those whose parents are the mainstays. -work.
Johnson said the riot meant he would not be able to run all the tests in the summer – the second academic year in a row in which the pandemic has plagued education pupils and plans for the future.
Johnson said that if the vaccine was distributed as expected and the number of deaths matched the lockout measures as expected, it should be possible to start moving out of lock-in before mid-term. February.
However, he urged him to be careful about the timetable and appealed to everyone to abide by the rules.
The British economy suffered a historic crash of almost 20% in the period April-June 2020 when several businesses were closed with the first lock.
The new measures, which allow companies such as construction companies to stay open, could cost around 10% of economic output as long as they last, said Julian Jessop, a former partner at the Institute of Economic Affairs, a group -thinking.
NEW VACCINE HYMN
As Britain embarks on the sixth highest death toll in the world and things hit a new high, the country’s top medical officials say the release of COVID-19 has spread horrific parts of the world. -health system within 21 days.
The rise in cases is driven by the new version of COVID-19, officials say, and while they acknowledge that the pandemic is spreading faster than expected, they say light at the end of the tunnel too – vaccines.
The Johnson government earlier visited on scientific “impact” as Britain was the first country in the world to start attacking people with pictures of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine.
Dialysis patient Brian Pinker, 82, received his first out-of-trial vaccination.
“I am so excited to receive the COVID vaccine today and very proud to be one of the Oxford-created,” said the retired maintenance manager, just a few. hundreds of meters since the vaccine was developed.
But even when the vaccines are rolled out, the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths continues to rise.
More than 75,000 people in the United Kingdom have died from COVID-19 within 28 days of a positive test since the outbreak began. 58,784 new cases of coronavirus were reported Monday.
Moving just hours ahead of Johnson, Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon suspended the toughest lock for Scotland since last spring.
The devolved administration in Wales said all schools and colleges there should move to online learning until Jan. 18.
Additional recitation by Estelle Shirbon, Alistair Smout and Guy Faulconbridge; Edited by Gareth Jones