Johnson to set out English lockdown as Covid-19 infections soar
By Sean Farrell
Date: Monday 04 Jan 2021
(Sharecast News) - Boris Johnson is preparing to announce an English lockdown on Monday evening to try to stem rapidly rising Covid-19 infection rates.
The prime minister will address the country at 20:00 GMT after coming under intense pressure to set out new measures to contain the virus. Scotland announced a national lockdown on Monday afternoon amid soaring infections driven by a more contagious strain of coronavirus.
Reports said Johnson would set out the terms of a tough lockdown for England. Parliament is being recalled to sit on Wednesday.
ITV's Robert Peston said tier 4 rules would apply to all of England, schools would close and team games in parks would be banned among other measures. On Sunday Johnson said schools would stay open and they were safe.
Johnson's spokesman said: "The spread of the new variant of Covid-19 has led to rapidly escalating case numbers across the country. The prime minister is clear that further steps must now be taken to arrest this rise and to protect the NHS and save lives. He will set those out this evening."
The government has come under pressure from the opposition, scientists and former Tory health secretary Jeremy Hunt to respond urgently to the mounting crisis. Hunt and Labour leader Keir Starmer called for a new lockdown in England on Monday.
Pre-empting Johnson, Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish first minister, said people would be required to stay at home from midnight except for essential purposes in a move similar to the lockdown announced in March 2020.
Sturgeon said the more infectious new strain of Covid-19 made up almost half of new cases in Scotland and that she was more worried than at anytime since March. Delay in responding to Covid-19 "almost always makes things worse," she said.
Schools in Scotland will close for most pupils until 1 February, Sturgeon said. Other measures will apply to mainland Scotland including:
Staying home as a legal requirement unless there is a reasonable excuse
A maximum of two people from two households to meet outdoors with under-11s excluded from the rule
Non-essential travel into and out of Scotland banned.
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