Covid: Gb, Johnson announces new national lockdown

(ANSA) - LONDON, JANUARY 04 - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced tonight in a televised speech to the country a third national lockdown extended to the whole of England, with the closure of schools as early as tomorrow, to deal with the new exponential surge in Covid cases registered across the kingdom and fueled by new coronavirus variants. Johnson called the so-called English variant, more contagious "50% to 70%" of the previous strain "alarming" and spoke of a 40% increase in hospital admissions compared to the first wave in April. (HANDLE).