Boris Johnson has bowed to days of pressure and imposed England's third national lockdown of the Covid pandemic. Schools will have to close, along with all non-essential shops, while shielding is returning as the UK is plagued by an infectious new variant of coronavirus.
The Prime Minister had faced calls to act sooner in the face of spiralling infections, currently at more than 50,000 a day. Many schools returned for just one day after Christmas on Monday, with the PM up to then resisting calls to close them nationwide But one statistic reportedly proved a "tipping point" in persuading beleaguered Mr Johnson that it was time to act.
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