National Lockdown Announcement

Last night the Prime Minister addressed the nation, announcing a national lockdown, as he asked the British public to once again: stay at home, control the virus, protect the NHS and save lives.

• While there is no doubt that in fighting the old variant of the virus, our collective efforts were working and would have continued to work, we now face a new variant of the virus – which is spreading at an alarming speed. It is clear that we need to do more, together, to bring this new variant under control while our vaccines are rolled out.
   
• From this morning, you must once again stay home:
   
  • You may only leave home for limited reasons permitted in law, such as to shop for essentials.
     
  • You should work from home unless you absolutely cannot. 
     
  • If you are clinically extremely vulnerable, we are advising you to begin shielding again. 
     
• This decision was not taken lightly and follows a rapid rise in infections, hospital admissions and case rates across the country, attributed to the new variant of COVID-19. This has put our hospitals under more pressure now than they have been at any other point throughout the pandemic.
   
• With the UK’s Chief Medical Officers advising that the country should move to alert level 5 - meaning that if action is not taken NHS capacity may be overwhelmed within 21 days – it is clear that these measures are now essential. Parliament has been recalled to debate these measures tomorrow, with these new restrictions due to be formally reviewed on 15th February.
   
• Now more than ever, we must pull together following the new rules. The weeks ahead will be the hardest yet but we really do believe that we are entering the last phase of the struggle. Because with every jab that goes into our arms, we are tilting the odds against Covid and in favour of the British people.

From today, the regular CRD Covid-19 briefing packs will be restarting.

From today, primary schools, secondary schools and colleges across England are closed except for children of critical workers and the most vulnerable, as one of our latest measures to slow the spread of the virus.

• Although schools are safe for children - with children still very unlikely to be severely affected by even the new variant of Covid - schools may nonetheless act as vectors for transmission, causing the virus to spread between households. It is for this reason we must take the difficult decision to close schools as we control the virus, protect the NHS and save lives.
   
• From this morning: 
   
  • Primary schools, secondary schools and colleges across England must move to remote provision, except for vulnerable children and the children of key workers.
     
  • Extra support will be provided to ensure that pupils entitled to free school meals will continue to receive them while schools are closed.
     
  • More devices will be distributed to support remote education
     
• We recognise that this will mean it is not possible or fair for all exams to go ahead this summer as normal. The Education Secretary will work with Ofqual to put in place alternative arrangements. 
   
• We have been doing everything in our power to keep schools open, because we know how important each day in education is to children’s life chances. However, with the rapid rise in cases and the increasing pressure on our NHS, we now have to do everything we possibly can to stop the spread of the disease, protect the NHS and save lives.

We are continuing to roll out the biggest vaccination programme in our history – with more than half a million doses of the new Oxford University/AstraZeneca being made available yesterday, with tens of millions more to be delivered in the coming weeks and months.

• So far, we have vaccinated more people than the rest of Europe combined. With yesterday’s arrival of the UK’s own Oxford Astra Zeneca vaccine, the pace of vaccination is accelerating. 
   
• By the middle of February, if things go well, we expect to have offered the first vaccine dose to everyone in the four top priority groups – including all residents in a care home for older adults and their carers, everyone over the age of 70, all frontline health and social care workers, and everyone who is clinically extremely vulnerable.
   
• We should remain cautious about the timetable ahead, but if we succeed in vaccinating all those groups, we will have removed huge numbers of people from the path of the virus. If our understanding of the virus doesn’t change dramatically once again and the rollout of the vaccine programme continues to be successful, we will eventually be able to lift many of the restrictions we have endured for so long.

This morning, the Chancellor has announced £4.6 billion in new lockdown grants to support business and protect jobs as the nation stays at home to control the virus, protect the NHS and save lives.

• This new strain of the virus presents us all with a huge challenge - and whilst the vaccine is being rolled out, the need to tighten restrictions further will have an impact on businesses up and down the country. It is only right that we help businesses to get through the months ahead – and crucially help protect lives and livelihoods.
   
• This new introduction of one-off top up grants for retail, hospitality and leisure sectors will help thousands of businesses across the nation, as they are able to apply for grants worth up to £9,000 on a per-property basis. A further £594 million is also being made available for Local Authorities and the Devolved Administrations to support other businesses not eligible for these grants, but may still be affected by these new restrictions.
   
• Throughout the pandemic, we’ve taken swift action to protect lives, jobs and livelihoods. This additional support will help businesses see out these latest restrictions and prepare for a time when they can reopen their doors, while ensuring the jobs and livelihoods they provide across the nation are protected.