Boris Johnson may impose national blockade with school closings in the UK

• Boris Johnson says “tougher measures” are needed now, as he is under pressure to impose a national blockade, as the new, faster-spreading coronavirus strain is overwhelming hospitals in the UK.
• An explosion in the number of cases is forcing schools across the country to remain closed after the Christmas holiday.
• Johnson had already resisted calls for another national blockade.
• However, he will meet with senior members of his government and advisers on Monday to decide whether a new national blockade should take place now.
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Boris Johnson is under pressure to impose a new national blockade in England, as a large number of schools across the country remain closed amid an outbreak of the new most communicable strain of the coronavirus.

Speaking on Monday morning, the prime minister admitted that “tougher measures” are now needed to control the virus.

He told reporters during a visit to a hospital in London that: “If you look at the numbers, there is no doubt that we will have to take tougher measures and we will announce them in due time.”

The leader of the opposition Labor Party, Sir Keir Starmer on Sunday called for an immediate national blockade due to an explosion in the number of cases and hospitalizations during the Christmas holidays.

The Johnson government allowed families to meet in small numbers on Christmas Day, despite the increase in cases caused by the new strain of the virus.

However, hospitals in some parts of the country are now more than half full of Covid patients, with some hospitals running out of oxygen due to an increased demand for respirators.

Johnson has repeatedly refused to consider closing schools in England after the first national blockade last spring, with the Secretary of Education threatening to sue local authorities who closed their schools before Christmas in December.

However, secondary schools across the UK now remain closed until at least mid-January, with primary schools in London and other parts of south-east England also closed after a series of twists and turns by the Johnson government.

Parents in many parts of England, where primary schools were due to start on Monday, received messages from their children’s primary schools over the weekend, informing them that they would also not reopen due to a shortage of teachers.

Teachers across the country were advised by the National Education Union not to attend schools due to the “serious and imminent danger” to health caused by the virus.

Teachers’ unions believe that the documents recently released by the UK government’s scientific advisory committee, warning last week that schools would need to close to control the virus, mean that any attempt to force schools to open would be a violation of school regulations. UK job security.

As Starmer warns that the situation in the UK is “clearly out of control”, Johnson will meet with senior advisers on Monday to decide what new measures should be imposed.

The increase in cases means that more areas of England are likely to be placed at the highest level of restrictions, which prevents families from mixing.

However, with Johnson’s own scientific advisers warning that more restrictive measures need to be taken, including closing schools across the country, Johnson is reportedly under pressure from some members of his cabinet to consider a stronger national response.

Johnson admitted on Sunday that more restrictive measures need to be taken, but did not specify what decisions will be made or when.

“‘We may need to do things in the coming weeks that will be more difficult in many parts of the country,” he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr program.

“I am totally, totally reconciled to this – and I bet the people of this country are reconciled to that because until the vaccine really starts to work massively, we are fighting the virus with the same set of tools.”