Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson has announced a new national lockdown for England - with people instructed to "stay at home" as they did during last March's first shutdown.
The prime minister revealed the action in an eight-minute TV address on Monday night, after being told that COVID-19 cases are rising rapidly in every part of the country due to the new coronavirus variant.
The public are being asked to follow the new rules, which replace England's tiers system, from this evening.
It is expected the new lockdown in England - the third time a national shutdown has been introduced - will last until the middle of February.
Mr Johnson expressed his hope that, at this point, the most vulnerable will have all been offered the first dose of a vaccine.
