LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will announce a new coronavirus blockage for all of England later on Monday, similar to the one imposed when the pandemic hit the country in March, the BBC reported.
The measures included closing schools for most students and people would be asked to work from home unless they cannot do their work remotely or are key workers, the BBC said, adding that the measures would take effect from midnight .
Johnson will deliver a television address to the country at 2000 GMT.
Earlier on Monday, his administration hailed a scientific “triumph” when Britain became the first country in the world to vaccinate its population with the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 injection.
Dialysis patient Brian Pinker, 82, received the first Oxford / AstraZeneca injection outside of a trial.
“I am so happy to receive the COVID vaccine today and I am really proud that it is a vaccine invented in Oxford,” said Pinker, a retired maintenance manager, just a few hundred meters from the site of the vaccine. vaccine has been developed.
Britain is grappling with the world’s sixth highest death toll and one of the worst economic blows from the COVID-19 crisis. More than 75,000 people in the UK have died from COVID-19 within 28 days of a positive test.
It was the first country to market the vaccine developed by Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech nearly a month ago, and prioritizes giving as many people a first dose of vaccines as possible over giving a second dose.
Some experts say they are concerned about such an approach.
Two new variants of the coronavirus complicate the COVID-19 response, and Britain has seen a resurgence in cases of new daily highs.
British scientists have expressed concern that the vaccines being rolled out may not protect against a new variant of the coronavirus that emerged in South Africa and spread internationally.
The British parliament will be recalled on Wednesday to discuss the lockdown measures.
Ahead of Johnson, Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon imposed the toughest lockdown for Scotland since last spring on Monday.
Additional reporting by Elizabeth Piper, written by William James, Guy Faulconbridge, and Alistair Smout; Editing by Kate Holton, Nick Macfie, Mike Collett-White and Gareth Jones