Matt Hancock discusses tier system after national lockdown

Lockdown was instated again on January 4 after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced people should stay at home unless a legal exemption applies. The lockdown law was published on January 5, 2021, and came in the form of amendments to the Health Protection Regulations. MPs approved the law on January 6, which states people should stay at home except if they can’t work from home, or for essential activities such as food shopping or education purposes. Under the new rules, schools in England are closed with all learning moved to remote style for the vast majority of pupils, excluding vulnerable children and children of key workers.

Has lockdown been extended?

The lockdown appears to have been extended after Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the shutdown wouldn’t end until at least March 8.

Mr Johnson confirmed all non-essential businesses and schools will remain closed until at least the given date due to the country still being in a “perilous situation”.

The latest lockdown will be in place for at least another nine weeks, with pubs and restaurants likely to be closed for much longer.

The Prime Minister said the Government would set out plans in the week beginning February 22 for a “gradual and phased” route out of lockdown.

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Speaking in the Commons, the Prime Minister said: “It was the emergence of a new variant that forced England back into lockdown and I know everyone yearns to know how much longer we must endure these restrictions.

“We will not persist for a day longer than is necessary but nor can we relax too on, because if we do we run the risk of our NHS coming under still greater pressure, compelling us to reimpose every restriction and sustain those restrictions for longer.”

Mr Johnson said the current lockdown has managed to bring down the R-rate but it’s still far too early to tell if it’s safe to reopen the country and economy.

There are still too many unknowns regarding the effectiveness of the vaccines in stopping transmission and the speed at which roll out will reduce hospital admissions, according to the Prime Minister.

He added: “What we do know is that we remain in a perilous situation with more than 37,000 patients now in hospital with Covid, almost double the peak of the first wave.

“But the overall picture should be much clearer by mid-February.

“By then, we will know much more about the effect of vaccines in preventing hospitalisations and deaths using data from the UK, but also other nations like Israel.

“We will know how successful the current restrictions have been in driving down infections.

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“We will also know how many people are still in hospital with Covid, which we simply cannot predict with certainty today.

“So we will then be in a better position to chart a course out of lockdown with our siding a further surge that would overwhelm the NHS.”

Mr Johnson confirmed schools and colleges would be the first to reopen when it’s safe, followed by the lifting of other economic and social restrictions which are expected to be eased one-by-one.

He set a provisional date of March 8 for schools reopening, three weeks after the February 15 deadline at which it’s hoped the top four priority groups will be fully vaccinated.

How long was the first lockdown?

The first lockdown in England was brought in almost a year ago, on March 23, 2020.

Restrictions lasted well into July before they were gradually eased over the summer.

A second lockdown was implemented on October 31, despite the Prime Minister vowing to do “everything in his power” to avoid the measures.

The restrictions came into force on Thursday, November 5 and ended on December 2, before a third national lockdown was confirmed on January 4.

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