The Times newspaper said Johnson might announce that only essential shops, nurseries, schools and universities will remain open in a month-long lockdown. Johnson was criticised by political opponents for moving too slowly into the first national lockdown, which stretched from March 23 to July 4. A national lockdown would represent a dramatic change of policy for the prime minister, who has been saying for months that it will not be necessary. Two weeks ago he defended his strategy of a patchwork of local restrictions by saying he wanted to avoid the "misery of a national lockdown". So far the United Kingdom has reported 46,555 COVID-19 deaths - defined as those dying within 28 days of a positive test.

Source: bd News24 October 31, 2020 16:52 UTC