Boris Johnson Orders Full Lockdown In England Amid COVID Scare

London: Nearly 56 million people in England will face another full lockdown, probably till mid-February. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday that this is being done to cut spiking COVID-19 cases in the country.

The measures, including the shut down of primary and secondary schools, will be effective from Wednesday, Johnson said in a televised address. This came following Scotland’s announcement of similar measures that came into force from Tuesday midnight (0000 GMT), reported news agency AFP.

According to Johnson, almost 27,000 people infected with COVID were lodged in hospital, which is 40 per cent more than at the peak of the first wave of the outbreak in April 2020.

More than 80,000 people tested positive in just 24 hours on Tuesday. “With most of the country already under extreme measures, it’s clear that we need to do more, together, to bring this new variant under control while our vaccines are rolled out,” Johnson was quoted as saying by AFP.

“In England, we must therefore go into a national lockdown,” the PM said.

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