UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson orders third nationwide lockdown as COVID-19 cases surge

Amid the rising COVID-19 cases in the United Kingdom, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on January 4 announced a new national lockdown for England beginning at midnight. In a press conference, the PM instructed people to "stay at home" and follow the new rules immediately. He informed that all schools and colleges will close to most pupils and switch to remote learning until the middle of February. 

With surging virus cases and patient numbers across the nation, Johnson said that those in the top four priority groups would receive a first vaccine dose by mid-February. He also said that the weeks ahead would be the "hardest yet". However, he added that he believed the country was entering "the last phase of the struggle". 

The recent lockdown is the third nationwide in the United Kingdom. Now, people across the UK must stay at home apart from five exceptions, including for work, to shop for necessities, to excessive once per day at a local location, to provide care to vulnerable people, or to attend medical appointments. Nurseries will remain open while childcare and support bubbles will stay in place. 

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READ: Scotland Goes Into Full Lockdown, England To Follow Suit As COVID-19 Cases Spike

UK records 50,000 new cases in a day 

Meanwhile, Scotland earlier had issued a stay-at-home order and joined Wales in closing classrooms for most pupils. According to BBC, Northern Ireland’s Stormont Executives are also meeting in a bid to discuss possible new measures. On Monday, the UK recorded over 50,000 new cases for the seventh day in a row. Nearly 58,700 cases and additional 407 deaths within 28 days of a positive test result were also reported. 

Meanwhile, there is a growing concern in the UK about a second South African variant of COVID-19 infection, which is said to be even more highly transmissible, causing fears that it may even be resilient to the vaccines now being rolled out. As per reports, the variant's different 'receptor binding domain' might attack the weak immune systems in patients with co-morbidity and cause severe infection, creating complications for the vaccine’s immunization mechanism to work. 

(Image Credits: AP)

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