Johnson orders new national coronavirus lockdown

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced a new national lockdown for England until at least mid-February to combat a fast-spreading new version of the coronavirus.

Johnson said the country is at “a critical moment” with cases rising rapidly in every part of the country.

Under the new rules, which are set to come into effect as soon as possible, primary and secondary schools and colleges will be closed for face-to-face learning except for the children of key workers.

University students will not be returning until at least mid-February.

All non-essential shops and personal care services like hairdressers will be closed, and restaurants can only operate takeout services.

As of Monday, there were 26,626 COVID patients in hospitals in England, an increase of more than 30% from a week ago.

That is 40% above the highest level of the first wave in the spring.

The UK has seen a surge in coronavirus cases in recent weeks as public health officials struggle to control the spread of a new variant of COVID-19 that is more contagious than previous variants.

Authorities have recorded more than 50,000 new infections a day since passing that milestone for the first time on December 29.

On Monday, they reported 407 virus-related deaths to push the confirmed death toll total to 75,431, one of the worst in Europe.

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