Will the UK go into another national lockdown in January?

21 December 2020, 15:15

Boris Johnson is ‘hoping to avoid’ another national lockdown and the closing of schools again as new Covid variant increases.

England came out of a second lockdown on December 2 straight back into the three tier Covid system, however, a new strain of coronavirus is threatening a third national lockdown.

With the introduction of Tier 4 across parts of the country and places such as Wales announcing another lockdown, residents in England are worried about a third national lockdown in January and the possibility of schools closing again.

Government experts and Prime Minister Boris Johnson have said they are hoping to avoid another period of strict restrictions in the new year and have enforced stricter Christmas rules as a bid to help prevent those rules being put in place.

Where did the new Covid strain come from? And is it only in the UK?

So will the UK go into a national lockdown in January? Will schools close? Here’s the latest news:

Will the UK go into lockdown in January?

Boris Johnson and the government have said they want to avoid another national lockdown but that depends on the impact the Tier 4 system has on preventing the spread of coronavirus and the new variant.

Christmas restrictions have been reduced to one day, parts of the UK are under strict ‘stay at home rules’ and travel bans are once again in force to help keep the R number as low as possible.

However, the new strain of Covid is increasing cases as well as adding pressure on the NHS’ availability.

No further discussions of a national lockdown have happened and the tier system is expected to be reviewed before the end of December.

Wales and Northern Ireland have already announced short lockdowns post Christmas to help limit the spread of the virus and Scotland has said they wouldn’t rule it out.

Will schools close again?

At present, no school closures have been announced.

Currently on Christmas break, secondary schools have revealed plans to stagger their return to school in January. Primary schools will return as normal.

Schools have also been offered mass testing for staff and pupils to help ‘clamp down’ on the virus.

Welsh schools have said there will be “flexibility” at the beginning of term with all pupils due back by January 18.