LOCKDOWN 3 FEAR
PM won’t rule out new year national curbs
THE whole of the UK could be thrust into lockdown after Christmas amid warnings of a “tsunami” of coronavirus cases.
The R-number is now between 1.1 and 1.2, confirming Covid-19 cases are surging once again.
Boris Johnson yesterday refused to rule out a third national lockdown. He said: “The reality is that the rates of infection have increased very much in the last few weeks.”
there may be a need for additional controls”. England and Scotland could follow Wales and Northern Ireland into strict restrictions next week.
Wales, where the Covid death toll hit 3,000 yesterday, goes into lockdown from 6pm on Christmas Day, while Northern Ireland starts a six-week lockdown on Boxing Day. Scotland’s Deputy First Minister John Swinney has warned a lockdown after Christmas is a “possibility”.
A weekly infection survey by the Office for National Statistics estimated the number of people infected in the UK had increased by a fifth to 660,000.
The survey suggests one in 95 people had the virus last week. The rise in England was driven by sharp increases in London, which went into Tier 3 this week, plus rises in the South East and East Midlands.
There were 489 deaths yesterday, up from 424 on the same day last week, and 28,500 new confirmed cases. There are 18,000 Covid patients in hospital after a surge of 3,000 on last week. Almost 16,000 of these patients are in England. Hospitals had to tell ambulance crews to divert patients 44 times last week and NHS trusts in London, Leicester, Essex, Kent and Northampton have begun cancelling non-urgent surgery.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer called on Boris Johnson to set out his plan for averting a third lockdown. He said: “Nobody wants a third lockdown. It is hugely damaging.”
But Mr Johnson refuses to scrap the Christmas relaxation of restrictions, hoping families will voluntarily rein in plans for festive meet-ups.
He said: “Keep it short, keep it small, have yourselves a very little Christmas.”