Here we go again! Weary Brits take to social media to find dark humour in the prospect of a new national lockdown
- Britons have taken to social media to mock the prospect of a third lockdown
- Boris Johnson will unveil a new set of restrictions in his address to nation tonight
- Schools to shut to all but vulnerable children but outdoor exercise to be allowed
Britons have mocked the prospect of a third national lockdown as Boris Johnson prepares to unveil a new set of restrictions across the country tonight in a desperate bid to control the mutant coronavirus.
Social media users mocked the looming measures which could see schools shut and households banned from mixing for months starting at midnight.
It comes as the Prime Minister gears up to announce a new national lockdown in his address to the nation tonight after the UK racked up another record high of cases.
Schools are set to be shut to all but vulnerable children but outdoor exercise will still be allowed. The Covid alert level is also being raised to the highest level of five.
Taking to Twitter one user wrote: Prepping myself for another UK lockdown. Maybe a third time lucky…people might listen, the virus might go away. Who know anymore. I’m just tired of it all. I miss hugs.’
Briton mocked the prospect of a third national lockdown which could see schools shut and households banned from mixing for months starting at midnight
While another commented: ‘Yeah, but…no..but #lockdown number three.’
Another person joked: ‘Boris: ”I’ve got some food news and some bad news. The bad news is schools are closed, new national lockdown and all businesses to close, I know..gutting. The good news is there will be a new £1 for the Queens’s 95th birthday.’
Meanwhile another said: ‘I was supposed to get my braces off a year ago but it got cancelled because of lockdown and I’m supposed to get my braces off in a week and we’ve just gone into another lockdown, pain
Elsewhere one added: ‘I prefer my endless lockdown to be honest.’
While another person wrote: They wasted the first lockdown not creating an effective system for testing, tracing and isolation, so not surprised they’ve wasted months not planning a rapid vaccine rollout.’
Earlier today a No10 spokesman said: ‘The spread of the new variant of COVID-19 has led to rapidly escalating case numbers across the country.
‘The Prime Minister is clear that further steps must now be taken to arrest this rise and to protect the NHS and save lives. He will set those out this evening.’
The scale of the problem was underlined as the latest grim daily tally was released, with 58,784 new cases – a 42 per cent rise on last Monday.
Some took to Twitter to mock the looming measures while others questioned the government’s constant U-turns
It means the UK has passed the milestone of 50,000 infections every day for a week, suggesting that the easing of restrictions at Christmas helped fuel the outbreak.
Department of Health chiefs also posted 407 more deaths, up just 14 per cent on the figure recorded last week. But it can take infected patients several weeks to fall severely ill and succumb to the illness, meaning fatalities have yet to reach their peak and will continue to rise.
The UK recorded almost 1,000 deaths twice last week, in grisly tolls not seen since the darkest days of the spring.
Nicola Sturgeon announced a drastic crackdown in the Scottish Parliament this afternoon, with a legally-enforced stay at home order from midnight and schools north of the border set to stay closed until February.
Earlier, ex-health secretary Jeremy Hunt joined demands from Labour and Tory MPs for an immediate national squeeze with schools and borders shut and a ban on all household mixing.
Mr Hunt warned that mutant Covid has put the NHS under ‘off the scale’ pressure compared to normal winters and the government ‘cannot afford to wait’ even one more day.