4m
18 Dec 2020

UK PM refuses to rule out third Covid lockdown in England after Christmas

Reporter

Boris Johnson has refused to rule out another lockdown for England after Christmas, although he said he was “hoping to avoid it” – the figures are not looking good.

The sharp increase in cases in London and the south of England has helped push the all important R number above one.

NHS chiefs are getting increasingly concerned about the strain on hospitals with almostĀ  90 percent of England’s beds already full.

Latest figures show another steep rise in infections, in the last 24 hours there have been another 28,507 new cases across the UK.

A further 489 deaths have sadly been reported, that takes the total to 66,541.