The UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has announced that Great Britain will enter another full lockdown, until at least mid-February.
The PM spoke at 20:00 and said that with the current vaccination plan, those at the top of the vulnerabilities list should be vaccinated by the middle of February. “If our understanding of the virus doesn’t change dramatically once again, if the rollout of the vaccine programme continues to be successful, if deaths start to fall as the vaccine takes effect, and, critically, if everyone plays their part by following the rules, then I hope we can steadily move out of lockdown, reopening schools after the February half term and starting, cautiously, to move regions down the tiers.”
The announcement comes as the UK’s coronavirus cases and strain on the NHS has reached yet another peak; with an increase of 54,990 new cases and 454 deaths on January 3rd. The new restrictions will come into place on Wednesday 6th January and will require people to stay at home except for specific reasons allowed under law, such as essential shopping and going to work. All schools will also be closed and moved to remote learning for the majority of children but, not all exams will go ahead this summer.
The government’s full lockdown guidance can be found HERE. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter and if you’re struggling to cope with your mental health during this time FOLLOW THIS LINK for a list of NHS helplines and services.