England enters a new national confinement by the coronavirus

London – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday announced a new national confinement that will last at least until mid-February to combat a new variety of coronavirus which spreads rapidly.

Johnson said the country is at “a critical juncture” and cases are rising rapidly across the country.

Under the new rules, which will come into force as soon as possible, primary and secondary schools and universities will be closed for face-to-face learning, except for the children of essential workers. College students will not return until at least mid-February.

All non-essential shops and personal care services, such as hairdressers, will be closed, and restaurants can only offer takeaway service.

As of Monday, there were 26,626 patients with COVID in hospitals in England, an increase of more than 30% from a week ago. This is 40% above the highest level of the first wave in the spring.

Also on Monday, Britain took another big step in the fight against COVID-19 on Monday by applying the first injections in the world of the vaccine developed by Oxford University and the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, thus strengthening its inoculation program.

Brian Pinker, an 82-year-old dialysis patient, became the first person to be inoculated by the head nurse at Oxford University Hospital. Pinker said he was very pleased to be vaccinated, noting that “now I can really look forward to celebrating my 48th wedding anniversary with my wife Shirley later this year.”

Since December 8, Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) has been using a vaccine manufactured by Pfizer and German firm BioNTech to inoculate health workers as well as asylum residents and the staff of the same. The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine strengthens this arsenal and is cheaper and easier to use, as it does not require to be stored at extremely cold temperatures like Pfizer’s.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca is being administered in a small number of UK hospitals during the first few days, so authorities can be alert to any adverse reactions. But hundreds of new vaccination sites – both in hospitals and in local medical offices – will start implementing it this week, joining the more than 700 that are already operating, the NHS noted.

In a change in practice in the United States and elsewhere, Britain now plans to give people the second dose of both vaccines 12 weeks after the first injection, instead of 21 days later, in order to accelerate the immunization of as many people as possible.

The government’s deputy medical director, Jonathan Van-Tam, said Sunday that this decision “is right for the nation as a whole.”

The UK is in the midst of an acute outbreak, with more than 50,000 new coronavirus infections daily in the last six days. On Sunday it recorded another 54,990 cases and an additional 454 deaths related to the coronavirus, bringing the total to 75,024 deaths during the pandemic, one of the highest in Europe.