ENGLAND is now entering its third national lockdown.
Brits are required to stay at home with pubs, bars, restaurants and non-essential retail closed. But when did the first lockdown start in the UK? Here's everything you need to know.
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When did the UK lockdown start?
The first lockdown started on March 23, 2020. Restrictions lasted into July.
The second UK lockdown was announced on October 31, despite Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowing to do "everything in his power" to avoid the measures.
The measures came into force on Thursday, November 5, and ended on December 2.
On January 4, 2021, a third national lockdown was confirmed.
What have the restrictions been since the beginning?
- Boris Johnson announced the first national lockdown on March 23 – ordering Brits to stay at home, banned gatherings of more than two people, and closed all non-essential retail.
- The lockdown rules were reviewed every three weeks until May 28 where the PM announced further plans to lift certain measures.
- On June 1, people from different households were able to meet in groups of six in gardens and outdoor spaces.
- Non-essential shops – including toys, furniture, charity, betting and clothes – were allowed to open from June 15.
- Masks were made compulsory on public transport from June 15, and in indoor settings such as shops a month later.
- A raft of new changes were introduced on October 12, including the three-tired local lockdown system.
- A tier-three lockdown is a type of restriction that sees pubs close along with other measures designed to reduce the spread of coronavirus.
- Liverpool City Region was the first region to be placed under Tier 3 lockdown, and was followed by Greater Manchester and Lancashire.
- London was placed under Tier 2 on October 17 which saw a ban on household mixing indoors.
- Brits are advised to stay at home, with all non-essential retail, restaurants and bars closed.
- People must not leave their home except for specific purposes including work and volunteering, fulfilling legal obligations, essential activities such as shopping for food, education and childcare, meeting others in your support bubble, medical reasons, and events such as attending a place of worship for individual prayer, a funeral, or a deathbed wedding.
- Hairdressers and beauty salons are also closed.
- A work-from-home order is in place.
- Like the first lockdown, schools, colleges and universities are shut.
How long will the third UK lockdown last?
The third lockdown is predicted to last until the middle of February 2021.
In a televised address to the nation on January 4, 2021, Boris Johnson said people will only be allowed out of their homes to buy essential food and medicine supplies, attend medical appointments, exercise, work if it is critical and cannot be done from home and to provide care for a vulnerable person.
All schools and non-essential shops are now closed but nurseries can remain open.
Has the UK been on lockdown like this before?
This is the third time the country has been in a lockdown in just a matter of months.
The last time the UK and Europe has had to deal with a pandemic on this scalewas the outbreak of the Spanish Flu in 1918. Around 50million people died and almost 40 per cent of the world's population were infected.
We've had a few close calls with illnesses like swine flu in 2009-10, but it wasn't on the same scale as coronavirus.
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