UK PM Johnson says he hopes to avoid another lockdown

Source :- newzee

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday (March 29) he hoped that England would not need to go into another lockdown if the public obey the rules and coronavirus vaccines continue to be effective.

"I am hopeful, I don't see anything in the data right now that would cause us to deviate from the roadmap, but we have got to remain humble in the face of nature and we have to be prepared to do whatever it takes to protect the British public," Johnson told a news conference.

England's stay-at-home lockdown order ended on Monday with people allowed to meet up outside in groups of six for the first time in nearly three months, though Johnson urged caution due to rising coronavirus cases in Europe, adding he did not know how robust the UK's defences were against another wave of infections.

Johnson announced a third national lockdown in England on Jan. 4, but has said he plans to proceed with a "cautious and irreversible" route out of restrictions, underpinned by a quick rollout of COVID-19 vaccines.

The United Kingdom recorded a further 23 deaths of people who had tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 28 days, and 4,654 new cases, official data showed on Monday.

The data also showed that 30.44 million people have now had a first dose of the vaccine, while 3.67 million have had a second dose.