UK braces for longer lockdown
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned that tough lockdown restrictions could remain until April, after the United Kingdom’s daily coronavirus death toll passed 1000 for the first time this winter.
Johnson said yesterday that restrictions would be lifted ‘‘brick by brick’’, and people should not expect a mass relaxation of the rules when they were reviewed on February 15.
‘‘We are in a tough final stretch, made only tougher by the new variant,’’ he told the House of Commons. MPs overwhelmingly backed the lockdown in a vote, despite concerns among senior Conservatives that it could last for nearly three months.
The decision came as 1041 coronavirus deaths in the previous 24 hours were reported. It was the first death toll in four figures since last April, and took the seven-day total to 4798, up 37 per cent from the week before. A further 62,322 people tested positive, bringing the weekly total of cases to 403,914, a 43 per cent increase on the previous week.
Matt Hancock, the health secretary, said the government would wait to see a reduction in the number of deaths before easing the lockdown in England, emphasising the importance of vaccines taking effect.
British GPs were to start using the OxfordAstrazeneca vaccine today, following delays caused by inconsistent supplies of the Pfizer jab to surgeries.
Senior Tory MPs called for the end of the lockdown to be brought forward to mid-February, by which point ministers believe that the most vulnerable groups will have been vaccinated.
■ More Americans are in hospital with Covid-19 than at any point since the pandemic began last year, with both infections and deaths continuing to increase across much of the United States.
Patient numbers reached a record 130,834 yesterday, according to an analysis of public health data by Reuters. According to the World Health Organisation, 5703 new US deaths from coronavirus were reported on January 3, the second-highest figure since the first American fatality was recorded in March.
■ Australians will start to be vaccinated against coronavirus in February, following new advice provided to the federal government.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Therapeutic Goods Administration expected to receive all the data it needed from vaccine developer Pfizer in midJanuary, with approval due by the end of the month. The approval process for another vaccine, by AstraZeneca, is due to be completed in February.
The first group to be vaccinated through a network of up to 50 ‘‘hub’’ sites will be quarantine and border workers, frontline health officials, aged care and disability workers, and aged care residents. Morrison said it was hoped to achieve around 80,000 vaccinations a week and see that build up over four to six weeks, with four million people vaccinated by the end of March.