Covid-19: UK Declares Second National Lockdown

The new lockdown in England has comes into force on Thursday.

It has been temporarily imposed, replacing the new three-tier system introduced last month, in a drastic bid to bring the coronavirus R value below 1.

The second national lockdown comes eight months after the country first went into a lockdown due to the pandemic.

This time, measures have been put in place to stop the situation becoming even worse than in the first peak.

The Prime Minister on Monday warned there was “no alternative” as figures predicted that if further action wasn’t taken, there would be more Covid deaths seen this time around.

Boris Johnson first announced the stringent measure on Saturday night, with a successful vote in favour of the lockdown by MPs on Wednesday.

MPs voted to approve the measures by 516 votes to 38, majority 47.

The lockdown came into effect at 0.01am on Thursday, November 5 and will end on December 2.

Non-essential services and businesses have been forced to close, including pubs and restaurants while essential shops and educational settings remain open.

The government has also returned to its message of ‘stay at home, to protect the NHS and save lives’, as people are only permitted to leave home for a limited number of reasons.