Four-week national lockdown to come into force in England

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced a month-long second national lockdown for England.

“Now is the time to take action because there is no alternative,” the PM said.

He said from Thursday people in England “must stay at home”.

Pubs, restaurants, bars and non-essential retail are to close until December 2.

There is to be no mixing of households inside homes during this time.

Schools, universities and construction are to remain open and outdoor exercise to be allowed. “We cannot let this virus damage our children’s futures even more than it has already,” said the PM.

The furlough scheme will be extended until December.

There will be a Commons vote on Wednesday and the new measures should take effect on Thursday.

The hope is that the stricter coronavirus measures could be eased by Christmas.

Some of the exceptions for which people can leave their homes include:

for education
for work, if you cannot work from home
for exercise and recreation outdoors
for medical reasons
to shop for food and essentials
to care for others

The announcement came in a news conference today (Saturday).

The prime minister was joined by England’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty and the government’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance for the briefing, following a cabinet meeting to discuss the government’s coronavirus response.

Deaths over winter have the potential to be twice as bad as in the first wave if nothing changes, said Vallance.

The PM said: “No responsible prime minister can ignore the message of those figures”.

He continued that the overrunning of the NHS would be a “moral disaster”.

Doctors and nurses would be “forced to choose which patients to treat… who would live and who would die,” he said.

Until now, the government has been pursuing a localised approach to Covid-19 restrictions, with the country having been divided into three levels of measures, depending on local infection rates.

Sky News announced this afternoon that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the UK has now surpassed the one million mark, according to the latest government figures.

The UK today recorded 21,915 positive cases, slightly fewer than the 24,405 recorded yesterday.

The country also recorded 326 COVID-related deaths today, up slightly from the 274 recorded on Friday.

Photo: Henry Nicholls/PA Wire

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