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| - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will address the nation late Saturday when he is expected to unveil a new lockdown across England, following warnings his system of localised restrictions has failed to curb soaring coronavirus cases. The dramatic shift in strategy comes as Britain surpassed one million coronavirus cases during the global pandemic, after announcing nearly 22,000 new infections. top scientists warned that Covid-19 is spreading significantly faster than their most dire predictions. Johnson convened his cabinet at lunchtime to finalise the stringent new rules, which will reportedly close all but "essential" stores in England while keeping schools, colleges and universities open. The measures, which will include a stay-at-home order except in cases where exemptions apply, will come into force on Thursday and last until December 2, according to UK media reports. The prime minister is expected to announce the new rules at a Downing Street press conference Saturday evening. This follows the release of documents Friday from an October 8 meeting of the government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) which warned that infections and hospitalisations were "exceeding the reasonable worst-case scenario planning levels". That worst-case scenario, calculated in July, had predicted 85,000 more people could die during the winter wave of the pandemic. Meanwhile, in its weekly study of Covid-19 prevalence also published Friday, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said it "continued to rise steeply", with the number of people infected increasing to around one in 100 nationwide. Britain is already among the hardest-hit countries in Europe, with the total Covid-19 related deaths nearing 47,000, after another 326 fatalities were announced. Some European countries and the devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have already reimposed partial lockdowns to try to cut their surging rates. Johnson's government, which is responsible for health policy in England only, had resisted the move, fearing the economic fallout. Instead it has persevered with a localised response system that relies on three tiers of Covid-19 alert. Only at the highest level are pubs and bars closed and indoor socialising banned. More than 11 million people -- about a fifth of England's population -- are already set to be under the tightest measures from Monday, with Leeds joining fellow northern cities Liverpool and Manchester in the highest "tier three". Calum Semple, a SAGE member, said Saturday the virus was now "running riot" across the country in all age groups. Last month SAGE recommended a two-week national "circuit-breaker" lockdown over the half-term school holidays this week. Johnson at the time rejected the move. His critics say that decision has resulted in the need for an even longer lockdown now. "Government delay has cost both lives and livelihoods," London mayor Sadiq Khan, of the main opposition Labour party, wrote on Twitter. "We must act now to protect both." But the British premier has faced stiff opposition to another shutdown from within his own ruling Conservative party, and from right-wing newspapers. Steve Baker, one such Tory MP, met with Johnson in Downing Street Saturday. "We've had an amazing opportunity to robustly scrutinise the arguments, the data, the forecasts of where we're going, and what I would say to people is the Prime Minister has a got very, very difficult choices to make," Baker told reporters afterwards. Earlier this year, Johnson was criticised for a slow response to the outbreak, delaying locking down Britain even as the number of positive cases and deaths spiralled across Europe. He eventually imposed a national lockdown in late March, shutting all non-essential shops and schools, and forcing millions to work from home to cut transmission rates. The stay-at-home measures were lifted in June as cases dwindled, with Johnson declaring in July the country could see "a more significant return to normality from November... possibly in time for Christmas". jj/pvh
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