One in 50 people had virus in UK; British PM said the restrictions would be tightened again

DUBLIN: According to the Office for National Statistics, 1.1 million people in private households in England had COVID-19 between 27 December and 2 January. This is 2.06% of the population. According to the Office for National Statistics, this is equivalent to one in 50 people.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he has no choice but to lock down, and has confirmed that more restrictions will have to be imposed in the country. NHS England figures show that hospital admissions for people with COVID-19 have also reached record highs. On 3 January, 3,351 people were hospitalised in England, surpassing the record of 3,145 on 2 January.

A total of 60,916 corona virus cases were reported yesterday. This is the highest daily number ever reported. This brings the total number of cases in the UK to 27,74,479.

In 28 days, 830 people died from COVID-19 infection. The Government estimates that a total of 76,305 people have so far died of COVID-19 in the UK. But according to various other statistics agencies, the death toll in the UK is 92,000.

British PM said there was no other way than lockdown

On Monday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he had no choice but to impose a third national lockdown in England. The Prime Minister has revealed that more than 1.3 million people across the UK have been vaccinated so far. Of these, 23% are over 80 years of age. Mr. Johnson also said the UK government would take steps to ensure that people arriving in the country are tested.

Lockdown is not enough to deal with the new corona virus variant, said Andrew Hayward, professor of infectious diseases epidemiology at University College London. He added that threat from the virus is “at least as bad as we were back in March”.

Dr Claudia Paoloni, chair of the country’s Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association, said the risk of NHS problems in the next few weeks is “very, very high”.

Meanwhile, Finance minister Rishi Sunak announced a one-off grant worth up to £9,000 for businesses in the retail and hospitality sectors. It is estimated to cost £4 billion across the UK.

Britain is becoming one of the worst affected countries in the world, with some 2.7 million cases and 75,431 deaths.