Boris Johnson has ruled out 'unlocking' coronavirus restrictions in England before at least February 15.
The Prime Minister was addressing a press conference from Downing Street on Friday (January 22) where he discussed issues including the vaccination programme and the new variants of Covid-19.
Mr Johnson said the current restrictions are “the right package of measures to deal with the new variant”, adding that public compliance with them is “the crucial thing”.
He added: “We really can’t begin to consider unlocking until we’re confident that the vaccination programme is working, until we’re confident that we don’t have new variants or changes in our understanding of the virus…
“I think the most important thing is we’ve got to be in a position where the rate of infection of the virus is not still so high, and it’s very high right now.
“So, for unlocking just to lead to another big rebound, I think that would be the wrong thing, the wrong way, to approach this.”
Mr Johnson said there is some evidence that the new UK variant of coronavirus may be linked to a higher death rate, adding: “I must tell you this afternoon that we’ve been informed today that in addition to spreading more quickly it also now appears that there is some evidence that the new variant, the variant that was first identified in London and the South East, may be associated with a higher degree of mortality.”
He added that the most important way of getting a grip on infection numbers was for the public to obey the lockdown rules.
Asked why tougher rules were not being brought in to combat the Kent Covid variant, he told a Downing Street press conference: “We are enforcing the law very stringently with increasing toughness.
“We will do it, we will enforce the law to ensure people don’t engage in activities which will mean mass transmission of the disease, or substantial transmission of the disease.
“But it depends on all of us, everybody watching, doing the right thing, avoiding transmission.
“That is far more powerful and far more effective against stopping the transmission of this virus than police action or new laws from the Government.”
