England goes for another lockdown, says Boris Johnson Photo: Jack Hill/The Times/PA Wire

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced, England will experience the second national lockdown. This decision was made after the UK passed the grim milestone of one million coronavirus cases.

The 30 days of shutdown will come into effect from Thursday after a parliamentary vote early next week, Johnson said on Saturday evening.

"We must act now to contain the autumn surge," he said.

Johnson had to make the announcement on Saturday after the government's plans were leaked to numerous national newspapers before the official announcement. The plan had been initially to announce the registrations on Monday.

The strict lockdown will enforce to closure of pubs, restaurants and non-essential businesses, including hair salons and gyms. Schools, while universities and playgrounds will stay open.

People will only be able to leave their homes only for essential reasons: education, work (if they are unable to work from home), to shop for food, for health reasons, or for exercise and recreation outdoors, either with that person's household or with one person from another household.

The government is discouraging all other travel, though people will still be able to travel abroad for work, providing they follow England's quarantine rules upon their return. The measures will only apply to England, as healthcare is managed by the devolved governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The new shutdown will remain in place for one month, at which point Johnson hopes the virus will be successfuly under control to enable England to tackle the virus, once again, on a region-by-region basis.

The Prime Minister, discussing the matter with his cabinet, previously said he wanted to "avoid the misery of another lockdown," but had not ruled it out.

He has been under pressure for weeks by the UK's top scientists, they warned that a lockdown was needed in England, instead of the current localized system.

The change comes after weeks of  rising infections.

According to the Office for National Statistics The current situation in UK


More than 1 million confirmed cases

On Saturday 21,915 new cases were reported with 326 news deths

Deths toll is 46,555


According to officials 1 in 100 people in England have Covid, an average of 568,100 people. That's compared with 1 in 2,300 in July and 1 in 200 at the start of October.

The decision for more severe restrictions came as Johnson's cabinet was advised that without these measures, the National Health Service's bed capacity would be surpassed by the first week of December.