Johnson returns UK to March lockdown to prevent hospitals from overflowing

Boris Johnson has already given up on any of the optimistic gestures that he struggled to launch during the first wave of the pandemic.

The new strain of the virus is spreading at unexpected speed, and the UK's public health system (NHS) is once again at risk of being overwhelmed.

The British prime minister has announced, in a televised message late on Monday, a new national confinement as strict as last March starting next Wednesday.

Hours earlier, Scotland's chief minister, Nicola Sturgeon, made use of her autonomous powers to anticipate the decision and shut down her entire territory.

"Right now, our hospitals are under the highest pressure ever, with 27,000 COVID-19 patients," Johnson said.

The prime minister has ordered that all England (Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland had already advanced in the measurement) is placed in the Level 4 of Maximum Alert.

Shops, restaurants, bars,

pubs

, cinemas, theaters and museums will be closed.

All schools, primary and secondary education, will be closed from Tuesday, and education will be delivered electronically, "Johnson announced.

The United Kingdom registered its highest historical number of infected in a single day on Monday: 58,784 cases.

The number of deaths from covid-19 fell compared to the almost 1,000 registered in previous days, but with 407 new deaths, the numbers continue to be alarming.

The four chief medical directors from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland signed a joint statement a few hours before Johnson's announcement, raising the alarm: “Cases are increasing across the country, driven by the new variant, transmission much easier.

We do not trust that the NHS will be able to cope with this increase in patients without more drastic measures being taken.

There is a real risk that hospitals in various areas will be saturated in the next 21 days, "said the text.

Along with scientific pressure, political pressure was incorporated.

The leader of the Labor opposition, Keir Starmer, called on Johnson to recover the "spirit of March" and impose a national lockdown as soon as possible.

“If we are going to subject citizens to more restrictive measures at the national level - and we must do so immediately - we must conclude a contract with them by which we commit to deploying the vaccination campaign as soon as possible.

Two million weekly doses in January, and double in February.

That must be the deal, ”Starmer said.

To Starmer's claim was added the former Minister of Health, Jeremy Hunt (Johnson's rival in the Conservative Party primaries).

“To those who argue that winter has always been harsh on the NHS, I say they are wrong.

As a minister, I have faced very hard winter crises, and the current situation is not comparable, ”wrote Hunt on his Twitter account.

Johnson has summoned the deputies of the House of Commons this Wednesday, to obtain their support for more drastic measures than what the Government and Parliament had planned for this time of year.

The

speaker

(president) of the House has asked the representatives to avoid going to Westminster and opt for a telematic presence.

For its part, the Scottish autonomous government has ordered its 5.5 million inhabitants to stay in their homes since midnight this Tuesday.

Only the exceptions of care for dependents, purchase of essential goods or outings to exercise (without the possibility of meeting with more than one person from another address) will be considered.

Schools will be closed until February 1, and entry or exit to Scotland will not be allowed except for justified reasons.

"It is not an exaggeration if I say that I am more concerned about the situation we are facing now than any other since March," Scottish Chief Minister Nicola Sturgeon said in her appearance before the autonomous Parliament.

Until December 31, the number of deaths from covid-19 in this autonomous territory was 4,578.

London hospital cancels cancer interventions

King's College Hospital, London, one of the largest centers in the British NHS, has decided to cancel some of the urgent cancer surgeries scheduled, because Covid-19 patients occupy all its ICUs.

During this Monday and the following Tuesday, the operations classified as "priority two", those that the specialists judge of special urgency and that must be carried out within a period of 28 days, have been postponed.

"A small number of cancer patients who had to undergo surgery this week have seen their interventions postponed, and they are kept under permanent surveillance by our doctors," said a hospital spokesman.

Several London centers are in a similar situation, to the point that the director of the NHS in London has had to publicly emphasize that, for the moment, "urgent cancer interventions in London are not being canceled".

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