Prime Minister Boris Johnson, has warned that the coming weeks will be the “hardest yet” as he announces another national lockdown for England.
A conference is to be held by Mr. Johnson at 17:00 GMT.
In view of that, all schools have been ordered to switch to online learning and this summer’s exams will not proceed
Also, Businesses in the retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors will receive a grant worth up to £9,000, according to the UK chancellor.
In Scotland, they entered another tough lockdown at midnight, with schools remaining closed to most pupils until at least the start of February.
In Northern Ireland however, they will legally enforce ‘stay at home’ orders and schools will have an “extended period of remote learning”
Also in Wales, which is already under lockdown, schools and colleges will shut down up until the 18th of January, 2021.
Globally, Johns Hopkins University has recorded at least 85 million new cases of Covid and 1.85 million deaths.
Train services expected to be reduced during the lockdown
Train services are expected to be reduced during the national lockdown.
The extent of the cuts is not yet confirmed, but some in the industry are anticipating reductions of between 50-60% of normal service.
Since the start of the pandemic in March, the government has spent billions of pounds covering the fall in ticket revenue from low passenger numbers during the pandemic.
In that first lockdown, services were dramatically reduced to almost half.
Some in the industry anticipate a similar Sunday-plus service will run for the next few months, not least because the supply of trains will outstrip demand.
There may also be difficulties staffing trains, given the prevalence of the virus and staff members being asked to isolate.
One senior industry source says the changes could take between 10 days and two weeks to implement, while others anticipate it could take longer.
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Source: bbc.com
