UK lawmakers have returned to Parliament to debate a national lockout that erupted on Wednesday morning amid anger over the turmoil in the government’s strategy for schools
LONDON – UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pledged that his government will use “every available second” to protect the elderly and vulnerable from virus rampaging across Britain. Parliament on Wednesday why the country had to return to COVID-19 lockout.
Lawyers, who were withdrawn from the early Christmas recess to consider the measures, are expected to approve the new rules as there is widespread agreement on the need for stricter restrictions to control new diseases.
“There is a fundamental difference between the rules facing the House today and our situation at any stage before, because our vaccines are now a way to escape,” Johnson said. “And we will use every available second to put this invisible shield around the elderly and vulnerable.”
Rising diseases are also putting unprecedented pressure on the nation’s health care system. Hospitals in England currently treat more than 26,000 coronavirus patients, 40% more than in the first peak of the pandemic in April last year.
Announcing the stay-at-home order Monday, Johnson said he would not pick up before mid-February. By then, the government hopes to give a single dose of COVID-19 vaccine to about 13 million people most at risk, allowing it to rest a bit in the confines.
“After last year’s marathon, we are indeed now in a sprint, a race to vaccinate the most vulnerable as fast as the virus can reach, and every needle in every arm will “Johnson told the House of Commons on Wednesday. .
The session came amid anger over the turmoil in the government’s education strategy at the time of the pandemic.
As part of the latest lockout, Johnson ordered schools across England to close, going back on the government’s promise to keep them open. Some lawyers are seeking assurances that schools will open in mid-February.
“It’s been very sad,” Robert Halfon, chairman of the House of Commons education committee, told the BBC. “It simply came to our notice then. The government must offer consistency, a consistent policy that does not change every two days. ”
Johnson ordered the national lockout in England after public health officials warned that rising disease rates threatened to overwhelm the National Health Service. On Tuesday, the Office for National Statistics estimated that 2% of people in England were infected with COVID-19 in the week ending 2 January.
The government is stepping up its massive immunization program after regulators approved a second vaccine. The UK uses both the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and one manufactured by Oxford University and AstraZeneca. Both require two pictures, but British authorities have decided to delay the second sight – moving it from 21 days after the first up to 12 weeks later – to allow the vaccine. give as many people as possible. Governments and scientists around the world are debating much about that decision.
On Monday, the NHS had vaccinated 1.3 million people across the UK The government expects to have nearly 1,000 vaccination centers in operation nationwide by the end of this week, Johnson said.
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This story corrects that the Office for National Statistics figure for coronavirus diseases was in England, not the UK as a whole.
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