Britain Extends Lockdown Due to Covid-19

Britain announced on Monday it will be in strict lockdown until next March after the Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the country faces tough  months because of Covid-19 infections. Johnson explained that people must stay at home again.

Under the new rules, which took immediate effect, primary and secondary schools and colleges will be closed for face to face learning except for the children of key workers and vulnerable pupils. University students will not be returning until at least mid-February.

In addition, all nonessential shops and personal care services like hairdressers will be closed, and restaurants can only operate takeout services.

Meanwhile, the authorities have recorded more than 50,000 new infections daily for the first time on Dec. 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.

On other hand, that move came on the day U.K. health authorities began putting the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine around the country, fueling hopes that life may begin returning to normal by the spring.

Also, Britain secured the rights to 100 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which is cheaper and easier to use than some of its rivals. In particular, it doesn’t require the super-cold storage needed for the Pfizer vaccine.