Thread by @FLAHAULT

1/9 - “Boris Johnson ordered a third economically disastrous national lockdown for England as the prime minister warned that the NHS risked being overwhelmed by a surge in cases of the new #COVID19 strain.”
ft.com/content/016f2d…

2/9 - “In a sharp switch in position, Mr Johnson ordered the immediate closure of all primary and secondary schools until mid-February as he imposed a version of the lockdown that shut down England last March.”

3/9 - “The government is once again instructing you to stay at home,” [Boris Johnson] said in a televised address. “Our hospitals are under more pressure from Covid than at any time in the pandemic.”

4/9 - “For the next 6 weeks, people will be told not to leave their homes except for specified purposes such as essential work — incl. construction — or to buy food or medicines. Univ. students will be told not to return to their colleges until the middle of next month.”

5/9 - “Rishi Sunak, chancellor has a range of economic support measures in place until the spring, including the furlough scheme, but his March 3 Budget will now take place in the shadow of a continuing health emergency.”

6/9 - “In a joint statement, the UK’s four chief medical officers said: “We are not confident that the NHS can handle a further sustained rise in cases and without further action there is a material risk of the NHS in several areas being overwhelmed over the next 21 days.”

7/9 - “Mr Johnson said that “now more than ever, we must pull together”, adding “I know how tough this is, I know how frustrated you are, I know that you have had more than enough of government guidance about defeating this virus.”

8/9 - “[Mr Johnson] apologised to parents for closing schools, saying he had “tried everything” to keep them open. In a sign of the chaos over the government’s approach, Mr Johnson had on Sunday urged parents to send their children back to school the following day.”

9/9 - “Meanwhile Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, announced a lockdown and a legal stay-at-home order across the nation from midnight to control the new strain of the virus.”