Boris Johnson threatens England with tougher restrictions to battle coronavirus

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned of the potential for far tougher restrictions to battle the rising cases of coronavirus in England after placing much of the country in the new 'tier 4' on December 26.

Tier 4 was a new restriction placed on certain high-risk areas of the country which imposed localised restrictions similar to the nationwide lockdown from last November, which came into effect on December 20.

Recently, there have been murmurings of a so-called  "tier 5" which could see further measures taken to stem the spread of the virus.

Coronavirus has had a catastrophic effect on British industry, with some companies having to take drastic measures to defy the government's pleas and stay open in the face of tougher restrictions in order to cut their losses.

Read more: British Airways to introduce coronavirus tests on select flights

This plus the uncertainty of Brexit - for which a deal was found, with the UK formally withdrawing from the EU on January 1 - has wrought havoc on Britain's economy and untold effects on many of the companies based within the nation.

Many schools have remained closed following the PM's announcement he was planning to open them on Monday, with many councils and unions pleading for them to remain closed for the time being.

More than 5,000 armed forces personnel have been deployed as part of the recovery scheme, marking the UK's biggest ever peacetime homeland security efforts.

Johnson told Andrew Marr on his BBC show that he still stands by his prediction that the pandemic would be more contained by Spring with the potential for tens of millions to have been vaccinated in the coming months.

He said: “We will keep things under constant review. We are entirely reconciled to do what it takes to get the virus under control; that may involve tougher measures in the weeks ahead.

"It may be that we need to do things in the next few weeks that will be tougher in many parts of the country. I'm fully, fully reconciled to that."

"And I bet the people of this country are reconciled to that because, until the vaccine really comes on stream in a massive way, we're fighting this virus with the same set of tools."

Rollout for the first vaccines to pass phase 3 clinical tests began in early December, which has enabled small parts of the country to begin immunising and dealing with coronavirus firsthand.

Read more: Pfizer Covid vaccine sees first UK rollout

The UK had purchased enough doses to innoculate millions of people, and the NHS began setting up impromptu 'vaccination centres' around the country in order to more efficiently vaccinate the public.

Frontline workers and the elderly were among those given the vaccine in the first phase of rollout.

Despite this, the UK has reported an average of around 5,000 new cases of coronavirus per day for the last six days, with Sunday bringing in a report of 54,990 cases this week, sparking this debate about further restrictions.

More than 75,000 deaths have been recorded overall in the 10 months coronavirus has been present on British soil.

Many in the government expect the new tier 4 restrictions to be in place for most of the country by next week.

This means much of the population would be banned from extended travel, be under further social restrictions and would be generally advised to work from home. It would also see non-essential retailers closed.

Labour Leader Kier Starmer has called for nationwide restrictions similar to the lockdown that was imposed back in November, with a few tweaks to stop many businesses from suffering heavy losses.

Starmer has gone on record to say it would preferential if schools could remain open but admits it is inevitable that many would close.

Primary schools in London are expected to remain shut until January 18 with colleges and secondary schools expected to remain shut until the same date.

Some industries remain optimistic for the future with the hope the vaccine may allow of mass immunisation in a timely fashion which could allow many sectors to make rapid recoveries.

Read more: Construction remains optimistic despite Covid-19

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