After England’s second lockdown that was announced on October 31st, by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Coronavirus cases are said to have dropped by around 30%. After the UK was impacted by a large second wave of the virus, Johnson stated that a second lockdown was around the corner. This wave of the virus infected more specifically, the Northern England Regions. The second lockdown closed non-essential businesses and told people to stay at home unless necessary. However, Johnson allowed colleges and universities to remain open and for people to make “support bubbles”.  The four-week lockdown began on the Thursday following Halloween, and ended on December 2nd.

All over England, cases of the disease were diminished, most noticeably in those previously mentioned regions in Northern England, where they decreased by over 50%.  On the second of November, it was found that 1 in 80 people living in England had Covid-19. However, on November 30th, it was shown from the REACT Study Findings, that only one in a hundred people had the virus. This is a decrease of around 30%, which may not seem extremely significant, but when in reality, it’s a huge change. It was also found that England’s reproduction number, a number which shows how many people an infected person has passed the disease to, has decreased from 1 to 0.88.  Unsurprisingly, London saw very little decrease in cases and the reproduction number was 0.95. However, England’s capital was found to have less rapid growth of the virus, instead becoming somewhat stagnant with cases. It was also found that around 40% of the population who were tested positive for coronavirus were asymptomatic. Before, many doctors advised those who were asymptomatic to not be tested, this has lead to citizens to call for people to be tested regardless of whether they are showing symptoms or not.

Although there has been a decrease in cases for most age groups, children and young adults continue to become infected with the virus at a rising rate. This may be because Prime Minister Boris Johnson didn’t shut down schools during the second lockdown like he did for the first one, instead he left them open. One reason why England decided to keep schools open this past lockdown was that many students missed important education during the spring and summer closure and that the effects will be seen for a long time. Some critics of the idea of leaving schools open say that the effects of leaving them open outweigh the effects of shutting them down. Others say that student’s lives are more important than their education. Johnson’s main basis behind his decision is that many researchers have found that less children and young adults are becoming less sick and in danger.

Bianca Emuk, a teacher living in London, thinks that the second lockdown was a good idea, “Overall it was positive as cases went down, although now that it has been lifted cases will rise again unless they vaccinate people soon.”  She also thinks that England should return into another lockdown, “I’m from Spain so I know how the proper lockdown was over there and comparing it to England, I feel like we never had a serious lockdown.”

As there has been a decrease in cases of around 1/3, Parliament has approved new rules for less strict Covid-19 restrictions.  This decision goes against Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party’s notions to ease the restrictions further and to make public life “easier”. The new restrictions for all areas and regions in England allow hairdressers, stores, and gyms to reopen, and for religious services to restart.  It also allows a limited amount of fans to watch outdoor sporting events in person. These new restrictions also means that England will return to a “tier” system. This means that some restrictions will vary from place to place. This “tier” system divides parts of England into three different “tiers” or levels depending on their coronavirus risks.  In the hopes of not needing a third lockdown, people are advised to wear masks and social distance as needed.  Overall, one can see that the outcomes of the second lockdown in England were extremely positive and helpful for scientists to learn more about this pandemic.