UK tightens Covid restrictions in England again

The UK government today tightened lockdown restrictions in England as the Covid-19 pandemic worsens, with the new measures likely to be in place until at least mid-February.

Prime minister Boris Johnson said that people should stay at home unless it is absolutely necessary, the same restrictions that were put in place earlier in the year when the first wave hit the country. London's move follows the imposition of similar restraints earlier in the day by the government of Scotland, where there is now a legal requirement to stay at home, except for essential purposes, until the end of January.

Johnson said he hoped that everyone in four top priority groups — adults in care homes and carers, everyone over 70, all frontline health and social care workers and everyone who is clinically vulnerable — will have been offered a vaccine by mid-February, meaning restrictions could then be eased.

Earlier, the UK's four chief medical officers called for a tightening of measures. They said that parts of the country's healthcare system are already under so much pressure that they may not be able to handle a further sustained rise in cases without further action.

Although the roll-out of vaccines in the UK is progressing faster than in many other advanced economies — the first AstraZeneca/Oxford University shot was administered today — daily levels are low, and the country's infection rate is soaring. Most recent government data show nearly 59,000 new cases of Covid-19, way above the daily rate when the country initially implemented restrictions. Positive tests have risen by nearly 50pc in the past seven days even though the number of people being tested rose by only 2pc over that period. But, UK deaths remain below the levels of late April and early May.

The OECD said last month that the UK economy would be among those hit hardest by Covid-19 in 2020, because of the concurrent effects of the country's exit from the EU that came into effect on 1 January. The effects of restrictions can be seen in UK oil products demand, which was down by 24pc year-on-year in November according to the UK's latest submission to the Joint Organisations Data Initiative (Jodi).

By Ben Winkley