Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that lockdown rules will be in place up until March 8, which is when he plans for schools to reopen.

“The first sign of normality beginning to return should be pupils going back to their classrooms,” he said.

He also announced new restrictions for people arriving in England from countries where the government thinks there is a risk of known variants of the coronavirus.

Plans for a 10-day quarantine in hotels or other government-provided accommodation was also discussed. The new quarantine measures will apply to British residents, who “will be met at the airport and transported directly into quarantine” he said.

Also anyone leaving the UK will be asked to validate the reason for the trip and will be sent home if they do not have a good enough reason.

This news comes days after he addressed the nation, and confirmed the coronavirus death toll had reached 100,000 in the UK. This caused sharp criticism of Johnson and his government from members of parliament and the public alike.

Labour leader Keir Starmer, highlighted a host of Johnson’s mistakes that he says represent a “damning indictment of how the government has handled this pandemic.”