Stricter lockdown restrictions probably on the way, says UK PM Johnson

By William James

 

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson wearing a face mask leaves BBC Broadcasting House, in London, Britain January 3, 2021. REUTERS/Simon Dawson

 

LONDON (Reuters) -British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday tougher lockdown restrictions were probably on the way as COVID-19 cases keep rising, but that schools were safe and children should continue to attend where permitted.

 

COVID-19 cases in Britain are at record levels and the increase in numbers is fuelled by a new and more transmissible variant of the virus. The government has cancelled the planned reopening of schools in and around London but teaching unions want wider closures.

 

Much of England is already living under the toughest level of restriction under a four-tier system of regional regulations designed to stop the spread of the virus and protect the national healthcare system.

 

But, asked in a BBC interview about concerns that the system may not be enough to bring the virus under control, Johnson said restrictions "alas, might be about to get tougher".

 

Britain will have 530,000 doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine ready to administer on Monday and hopes to provide "tens of millions" of vaccinations over the next three months, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday. Maha Albadrawi reports.

 

"There are obviously a range of tougher measures that we would have to consider ... I'm not going to speculate now about what they would be," he said.

 

The opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer said Johnson must implement a national lockdown within the next 24 hours.

 

"What we've learnt is that the longer you delay the difficult decisions, the worse it is on the health front, the worse it is on the economic front," Starmer told reporters.

 

Johnson sets policy for England, with rules in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales set by their devolved authorities.

 

Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon said her cabinet would meet on Monday to discuss possible further steps to limit the spread of the virus, and ordered Scotland's parliament to be recalled.

 

Britain recorded 54,990 new cases of the virus on Sunday and has registered more than 75,000 deaths from the pandemic.

 

The government's response has been heavily criticised. But the rollout of vaccines is set to accelerate on Monday with the first 530,000 doses of the newly approved Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines ready to be administered, Johnson said.

He hoped "tens of millions" would be treated over the next three months.

 

Millions of pupils are due to return from their Christmas holidays on Monday, and Johnson advised parents to send their children to school in areas where rules allow it.

 

"There is no doubt in my mind that schools are safe, and that education is a priority," he said.

 

Some local authorities and unions have warned against reopening schools and have threatened to act against government advice. Others say closures also have a big negative impact on students.

 

"We must renew and maintain the consensus that children’s time out of school should be kept to the absolute minimum," Amanda Spielman, chief schools inspector, wrote in the Sunday Telegraph.

 

(Reporting by William James; Editing by William Maclean, Timothy Heritage and Raissa Kasolowsky)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-01-04

 

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It's descended into a cataclysmic cluster of biblical proportions presided over by a now bumbling clueless blonde bone head get a grip Boris print some more cash and lead ????     

It's interesting to think that the UK has almost exactly the population of Thailand.

 

Let this sink in:

58,000 new infections per day.

 

That's what happen when govt does not impose lockdowns early & hard. Fret about the economy? This is about the value of human life & health. Without it, there is no economy.

 

Let's hope it's not too late to do so. Start giving some orders, General!

9 hours ago, sammieuk1 said:

It's descended into a cataclysmic cluster of biblical proportions presided over by a now bumbling clueless blonde bone head get a grip Boris print some more cash and lead ????     

....and that is from a fan...555

On the way..........let's hang back a while like 'we' did in March, let's just ignore the SAGE advice 21st Sept and hang back a bit....no need to rush these things...let's see what happens...

 

As one of the leads in SAGE stated ....you cannot wait to see what is happening in a pandemic....you have to 'guess' what is going to happen and take action well before there is evidence...NOT AFTER.

14 minutes ago, Surelynot said:

On the way..........let's hang back a while like 'we' did in March, let's just ignore the SAGE advice 21st Sept and hang back a bit....no need to rush these things...let's see what happens...

 

As one of the leads in SAGE stated ....you cannot wait to see what is happening in a pandemic....you have to 'guess' what is going to happen and take action well before there is evidence...NOT AFTER.

Oh dear...now Johnson can't lockdown....not for another two weeks at least.

14 hours ago, webfact said:

schools were safe and children should continue to attend where permitted.

 

So Boris and his cohorts are still obsessed with schools remaining open at all costs, are they? IMHO it is absolutely disgusting that they appear to be more than willing for the general populace (who will no doubt have to endure the COVID-19 agony for rather longer than might have otherwise been the case as a result of this ridiculous decision) to be, in effect, offered up as sacrificial lambs on the high altar of schoolkids' educational wellbeing.

 

Thank goodness a rather more sensible approach towards school closures appears to have been adopted here in Thailand!

 

 

So in the UK the school kids will continue to spread the Covid virus to their homes

as they continue to mingle with other children who picked up the virus from a careless

parent.  Good leader ship Boris..   

Geezer

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