Gb, Johnson announces the national lockdown

(ANSA) - LONDON, OCTOBER 31 - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced today the entry into force from next week of a national lockdown bis throughout England to try to curb the second wave of coronavirus infections which started in the country as elsewhere in Europe after the summer. The restriction, unlike the spring, does not however include the closure of schools and universities: it is scheduled from Thursday 5 November to 2 December. "If we don't act now" we risk having "thousands of deaths a day" in a few weeks, Johnson said in a press conference, citing "a moral disaster" for the health service (NHS) and the country. The prime minister defended the choice of local restrictions adopted in recent weeks, underlining "the costs of the lockdown", but in the face of new data, he formalized the go-ahead for the lockdown bis on Thursday, again inviting the population to "stay home". (HANDLE).