LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will announce a new closure of the coronavirus across the UK later Monday, similar to the one imposed when the pandemic hit the country in March, the BBC reported.
The measures include school closures for most pupils and people will be asked to work from home unless they can do their work remotely or as key workers, the BBC said.
Johnson will deliver a televised speech to the country by 2000 GMT.
Earlier Monday, his government declared a scientific “triumph” because Britain was the first country in the world to start vaccinating its population with Oxford University and AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 shot.
Dialysis patient Brian Pinker (82) received the first shot of Oxford / AstraZeneca outside a trial.
“I’m so glad I got the COVID vaccine today and am very proud that it’s one invented in Oxford,” said Pinker, a retired maintenance manager, just a few hundred yards from where the vaccine was developed. is, said.
Britain is grappling with the world’s sixth highest death toll and one of the worst economic hits of the COVID-19 crisis. More than 75,000 people in the UK died within 28 days after a positive test for COVID-19.
It was the first country to develop the vaccine developed by Pfizer and German BioNTech almost a month ago, giving preference to receiving a first dose of vaccines to as many people as giving second doses.
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 revival in cases to new daily highs.
British scientists have expressed concern that vaccination of vaccines may not be able to protect against a new variant of the coronavirus that originated in South Africa and has spread internationally.
The British Parliament will be convened on Wednesday to discuss the closure measures.
Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon moved in front of Johnson earlier Monday, setting the strictest closure for Scotland since last spring.
Additional reporting by Elizabeth Piper, writing by William James, Guy Faulconbridge and Alistair Smout; Edited by Kate Holton, Nick Macfie, Mike Collett-White and Gareth Jones