When does England’s lockdown start?

Prime minister warns weeks ahead ‘will be the hardest yet’

Boris Johnson has ordered England’s third national lockdown as coronavirus cases continue to soar to new record highs.

The prime minister blamed the new and more transmissible variant for the inability of the government’s previous tier system to curb rising infections as he caved to pressure to close schools and issued new stay at home orders during a national address on Monday night.

He warned that the NHS could be overwhelmed in 21 days without urgent action, saying that English hospitals were now treating nearly 27,000 patients with Covid-19 – a figure 40 per cent higher than during the first peak in April.

While Mr Johnson said that the restrictions will not become law until the early hours of Wednesday, he urged the public to start following the rules immediately.

MPs have been recalled early from the Christmas recess and on Wednesday will be given a retrospective vote on the new rules – which will last until mid-February at least.

Read more: What are the new rules?

Following the prime minister’s volte-face on schools reopening, all primary schools, secondary schools and colleges will move to remote learning from Tuesday – less than 48 hours after he insisted they were safe for children. Nurseries will remain open.

The prime minister’s announcement followed a similar decision by Nicola Sturgeon to close schools until February and impose a new national lockdown in Scotland, which comes into effect at midnight.

And in Northern Ireland, Stormont ministers were reportedly preparing to make stay-at-home orders enforceable by law as they backed a period of remote learning for school pupils.

While Wales has been under stay-at-home restrictions since 20 December, education minister Kirsty Williams announced on Monday that schools and colleges would also remain closed until at least 18 January.

It came as polling by YouGov suggested that support among the British public for a national lockdown had grown by 8 per cent, with some 79 per cent of people surveyed in favour of the move.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer threw his party’s support behind the new measures, as he said there must be a “simple contract” agreed – that the British people abide by lockdown rules on the understanding that the government will quickly and efficiently administer the vaccine.

“The weeks ahead will be the hardest yet but I really do believe that we are entering the last phase of the struggle,” Mr Johnson concluded on Monday evening.

“Because with every jab that goes into our arms, we are tilting the odds against Covid and in favour of the British people. And, thanks to the miracle of science, not only is the end in sight and we know exactly how we will get there.

“But for now, I am afraid, you must once again stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives.”