New lockdown as Covid cases soar
PM’s ‘stay at home’ message in crackdown on rising infections
BORIS Johnson has imposed a third national lockdown on England and shut schools to most students to prevent the NHS being overwhelmed by surging coronavirus infections.
In a televised address to the nation last night, the Prime Minister told the nation to stay indoors other than for limited exceptions, with measures expected to last until mid-February.
And the Prime Minister bowed to significant pressure to order primary schools, secondaries and colleges to move to remote teaching for the majority of students from today. Mr Johnson said the new variant, which is 50% to 70% more transmissible, was spreading in a “frustrating and alarming” manner.
“As I speak to you tonight, our hospitals are under more pressure from Covid than at any time since the start of the pandemic,” he said.
The lockdown will be brought into law as soon as possible, but Mr Johnson urged the public to follow the rules straight away.
Mr Johnson’s statement came after the chief medical officers for the first time raised the UK to the highest level on the Covid-19 alert system. They warned the NHS is at risk of being overwhelmed within 21 days “in several areas” without further action.
In his address Mr Johnson told the nation: “Now more than ever we must pull together”, adding that with the roll-out of vaccinations “I really do believe we are entering the last phase of this struggle”.
“It has been both frustrating and alarming to see the speed at which the new variant is spreading,” he said, adding that the lockdown needed to be “tough enough to contain this new variant”.
Parliament will be recalled alled on Wednesday and Downing Street reet said that the move was in response se to the “rapidly escalating” numbers rs of infections following the emergence of the new variant. The latest figures showed d a further 407 people have died ed within 28 days of testing posiositive for Covid-19 as of Monday nday and there were a record 58,784 more lab-confirmed UK cases. es.
SIX hospital patients in Devon who tested positive for coronavirus have died according to the latest figures, as the Covid death toll for the Westcountry continues to rise.
NHS England data published yesterday, and taking into account deaths reported in the 24 hours up to 4pm on January 3, shows that six deaths were confirmed across Devon and Cornwall’s hospitals.
Four were recorded at Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital (RD&E) and two at North Devon District Hospital. This brings the total deaths of patients with coronavirus at RD&E hospital to 165.
Latest figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) show the number of deaths recorded in each individual area of Devon and Cornwall between March and November.
A total of 14,691 deaths across Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly were registered in the nine-month period, with 647 of them having Covid-19 mentioned on the death certificate as the main cause of death.
Some of the 14,044 deaths ‘due to other causes’ include deaths where the underlying cause was not Covid19, but that Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate as a contributory cause of death.
It means that 4.4% of all deaths in Devon and Cornwall in that ninemonth period were because of Covid
19. The figures show, across the two counties, there were 15 deaths in March, 345 in April, 140 in May, 18 in June, 4 in July and August, 6 in September, 28 in October and 87 in November.
Areas where no Covid-19 deaths have yet to be recorded are Tamerton Foilot, King’s Tamerton & West Park, Preston & Shorton, Mid Saltash, Grampound Road, St Newlyn East and Cubert, Torpoint, Kingsand, Antony & Maryfield, St Day & Lanner, Padstow & St Issey, St Breward, Tredethy & Lanivet, Dunkesewell, Upottery & Stockland, Kilmington, Colyton & Uplyme, Poppleford, Otterton & Woodbury, Ilfracombe East, Lynton & Combe Martin, Barnstaple Sticklepath, Fremington & Instow,
South Brent & Cornwood, Dartmouth, Wembury, Brixton & Newton Ferrers, Salcombe, Malborough & Thurlestone, Tedburn, Shillingford & Higher Ashton, Heathfield & Liverton, Teignmouth North, Newton Abbot, Highweek, Newton Abbot, Town Centre, Hartland Coast, Great Torrington, Winkleigh & High Bickington, Bere Alston, Buckland Monachorum & Yelverton and the Isles of Scilly.
In terms of deaths in November, the area with the highest number was Wellswood in Torbay, with five deaths, with Brixham Town (4), Mannamead & Hartley, Peverell, Wonford & St Loye’s and Dawlish South (3) the only other areas with more than two deaths.