* COVID-19 cases at record levels in UK, and rising
* Children should attend school where permitted - PM
* Vaccine delivery set to accelerate on Monday
(Adds vaccine comments)
By William James
LONDON, Jan 3 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris
Johnson said on Sunday that tougher lockdown restrictions were
probably on the way as COVID-19 cases keep rising, but that
schools were safe places and children should continue to attend
where permitted.
Cases of COVID-19 in Britain are at record levels and
increasing, fuelled by a new and more transmissible variant of
the virus. That has already forced the government to cancel the
planned reopening of schools in and around London, with calls
from teaching unions for wider closures.
Much of England is already living under the toughest level
of restriction set out in a four-tier system of regional
regulations designed to stop the spread of the virus and protect
the national healthcare system.
But Johnson, asked in a BBC interview about concerns that
the system may not be enough to bring the virus back under
control, said that restrictions "alas, might be about to get
tougher".
"There are obviously a range of tougher measures that we
would have to consider ... I'm not going to speculate now about
what they would be."
Johnson sets policy for England, with rules in Scotland,
Northern Ireland and Wales set by their devolved authorities.
Britain recorded 57,725 new cases of the virus on Saturday,
and with more than 74,000 deaths so far during the pandemic the
government's response has been heavily criticised.
However the rollout of vaccines was set to accelerate on
Monday with the first 530,000 doses of the newly approved
Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines ready to be administered, Johnson
said. He added he hoped "tens of millions" would be treated over
the next three months.
Addressing concerns over education, and with millions of
pupils set to return from their Christmas holidays on Monday,
Johnson said schools were safe, and advised parents to send
their children in, in areas where rules allow it.
"There is no doubt in my mind that schools are safe, and
that education is a priority," he said.
The schools issue has split opinion, with unions and some
local authorities warning against reopening and threatening to
act against government advice, and others saying that closures
also have a big negative impact on students.
"We must renew and maintain the consensus that children’s
time out of school should be kept to the absolute minimum,"
Amanda Spielman, chief schools inspector, wrote in the Sunday
Telegraph.
(Reporting by William James;
Editing by Alison Williams, William Maclean)