British PM to hold press conference at 4 p.m. Saturday as national lockdown looms

London, United Kingdom | XINHUA |   British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to hold a press conference at Downing Street at 4 p.m. (1600 GMT) on Saturday as media reports said that a national lockdown could be imposed as early as next week to quell the resurgency of coronavirus in the country.

The prime minister is planning to brief the press on the current COVID-19 situation in the country alongside the chief medical officer for England, Chris Whitty, and the chief scientific adviser, Patrick Vallance, local media reported.

Details of what exactly will be announced at the press conference have yet to be confirmed, but the British government is due to hold an emergency cabinet meeting at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, following leaked rumours that a national lockdown could be on the cards from as early as next week.

The British government launched an inquiry into the leakage, said the media reports.

It is also reported that British ministers are expected to discuss the possibility of introducing a month-long lockdown through November.

A further 24,405 lab-confirmed cases were recorded in Britain and a further 274 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for COVID-19 as of Friday, the British government said.

More than a dozen regions in England will move into Tier two restrictions on Saturday, including Carlisle, after an announcement was made on Friday evening.

The new three-tier COVID-19 alert system set out by the prime minister came into force on Oct. 14 across England as the country struggles to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

The alert system comprises three levels:　”Medium”, “High” and “Very High” with the level being decided according to local infection rates.

To bring life back to normal, countries, such as Britain, China, Russia and the United States, are racing against time to develop coronavirus vaccines.

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