The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has stated that England will enter a new full lockdown in order to stop the spread of CoVid-19. This means that all non-essential shops, as well as restaurants and cafes, will be shut. Only essential stores such as supermarkets will remain open.
However, unlike the previous lockdown, schools and universities will remain open. The other nations of the UK, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales all have their own lockdown measures already in place decided on by their own governments.
Both the UK Government and the scientists that advise them have stated that the lockdown is essential as the virus was spreading at a rate that was beyond the worst-case scenario they had modelled, and believe that as many as 90,000 people could die in the next few months if no action was taken to stop the spread. The UK has one of the highest death rates in the world both in total and on a per-capita basis with some 60,000 people already believed to have died from a CoVid-19 infection.
The lockdown comes as other countries across Europe put in place new restrictions. France has entered a full new lockdown as has Germany, though like the UK, they have left schools open.
It is hoped that the new restrictions will reduce the rate of spread before the winter period when hospitals can become overwhelmed.
It has been reported in several newspapers that a vaccine for the virus is expected to be on the market in the next few weeks with it being rolled out potentially in the UK before Christmas. The Oxford vaccine trial has so far been tested on tens-of-thousands of people around the world and the results will be made public shortly. If the vaccine is effective and safe, and it indeed looks like this is the case, then it may be the light at the end of the tunnel that allows life to return to normal in the coming year. Some have warned though that it will take time to get the vaccine out to everyone, the UK Government has indicated that the military may be brought in to oversee distribution.
In Scotland, a leaked memo from the National Health Service revealed that a vaccine could be rolled out in just 6 weeks. It read:
"Timescales are uncertain, but we are working to an assumption that a vaccine will be available from mid-December 2020. This will be a mass vaccination programme to achieve the most important public health goal in our lifetimes. We would like to meet with HSCP and council leads in each area to brief you on the likely shape of the programme, discuss delivery options and agree how we can work together to achieve success. Given the tight timescale I hope you will be able to meet us as early as possible."
It may be hard to believe that the pandemic may be coming to an end, amidst the huge continuing spread and an increase in deaths, but while this may not be 'the end', it could very well be 'the beginning of the end'.
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