England strikes nearer to full lockdown with tens of millions extra positioned underneath the nation’s tightest restrictions.

On the same day that UK regulators approved the emergency coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, millions more people in England were told they would be subject to the toughest regulations in the country from Thursday.

Three quarters of the country’s population will live under the strictest virus limits in England, British Health Minister Matt Hancock told Parliament on Wednesday. The government has stopped imposing a full national lockdown but will effectively put one across the country, with the north-east of England and large parts of the north-west, south-west and central England joining Tier 4 as well as the south and east of England.

The measures were deemed necessary as the UK struggles to contain the spread of a particularly contagious strain of the coronavirus that has taken the country’s cases to record levels and pushed the National Health Service to its limits.

Just before Christmas, London and parts of southern England – where the new variety is most widespread – were switched to the strictest regulations. These restrictions include: a ban on socializing indoors; People who stay at home as much as possible; and gyms, unnecessary shops and restaurants will remain closed except for take-away meals. Meetings with another person and exercise outdoors are permitted.

The UK’s laboratory-confirmed cases reported Tuesday rose to 53,135, and frontline health workers warned hospitals are at a breaking point and more patients with Covid-19 have been admitted in England than in April -Climax. Some hospitals have already warned of a lack of space and a lack of oxygen.

The country’s approval of a home-grown AstraZeneca vaccine gave rise to hope that the end of the pandemic may be near. “From the start we focused on the vaccine as a way out of this pandemic and now it’s a reality,” Hancock said.

There has been outcry in the UK that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s administration must act quickly to tighten UK restrictions and ease pressure on the NHS to make tough choices to add more restrictions.

With cases rising rapidly, UK Education Secretary Gavin Williamson is expected to announce later Wednesday whether schools, which are on winter break, will close in January to curb the spread of the more communicable coronavirus mutation.