Restrictions could run until March with no ‘big bang’ exit
BORIS Johnson warned it would take time to ease lockdown restrictions in England which could be in place until the end of March.
The Prime Minister, who came under pressure from senior Tories to commit to easing the restrictions as soon as possible, said there would be “substantial opportunities” for relaxation before March.
But he warned there would not be a “big bang” where all the curbs on freedoms were removed at once.
His comments came as the Government said a further 1,041 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Wednesday – the highest daily reported total since April 21.
The Prime Minister said there was “no choice” but to issue the stay-athome order and close schools given the spread of coronavirus, particularly the more infectious new variant.
As a result of the measures – which will see the majority of pupils kept out of classrooms until at least after the February half-term – GCSE, AS and A-level examinations will once again be cancelled this summer.
They will be replaced by school assessments as ministers and regulators seek to avoid the chaos caused last year by the use of an algorithm to determine grades.
Addressing MPs after the recall of the Commons from its Christmas break, Mr Johnson said there was now a race between the spread of the virus and the delivery of vaccines to the most vulnerable. Mr Johnson said: “Our emergence from the lockdown cocoon will not be a big bang but a gradual unwrapping.”
The Prime Minister told MPs – who were retrospectively voting on the measures last night – that there would be “continuous review” of the rules with a statutory requirement to look at them every fortnight and a legal obligation to remove them if they are no longer necessary.
“We are in a tough final stretch, made only tougher by the new variant,” Mr Johnson said.
“After the marathon of last year we are indeed now in a sprint, a race to vaccinate the vulnerable faster than the virus can reach them.
“Every needle in every arm makes a difference.”
Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the Commons: “While these regulations do provide for new restrictions until the end of March, it is not because we expect the full national lockdown to continue until then but to allow the steady, controlled and evidence-led move down through the tiers on a local basis.”
Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the influential 1922 Committee of backbench Tories, called for Commons votes at the end of January and February on whether the restrictions should continue.
Some 1.3 million people have already received either the Pfizer/ BioNTech or Oxford/AstraZeneca jab. But Mr Johnson confirmed that just 10% of care home residents had received a vaccine, along with 14% of staff.
The Government wants England’s schools to reopen after the February half-term, but experts warned that would depend on progress in the battle to curb Covid-19 cases.