UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday that current COVID-19 restrictions should be in force for some time more, as official figures showed that the UK has recorded 55,761 new coronavirus cases and 1,280 further deaths in the last 24 hours
LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th January, 2021) UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday that current COVID-19 restrictions should be in force for some time more, as official figures showed that the UK has recorded 55,761 new coronavirus cases and 1,280 further deaths in the last 24 hours.
"This is not the time for the slightest relaxation of our national resolve," Johnson said during a televised press briefing, where he also announced that from Monday, January 18 all safe travel corridors will be closed and anyone arriving in the UK must show a negative COVID-19 test result before departure and self-isolate for 10 days after arrival.
He also noted that 3.2 million people across the UK have received the Pfizer/BioNTech or AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccines so far, but warned that it would be fatal if such progress on the immunization campaign leads people to be complacent about the risk of infection.
"It`s precisely because we have the hope of the vaccine and the risk of new strains coming from overseas that we must take additional steps now to stop those strains from entering the country," the prime minister said.
Johnson said that the closure of the travel corridors will apply across the UK following conversations with the semiautonomous governments of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
