UK PM Johnson says to early to say when national lockdown will end

"What we're seeing in the ONS data, in the REACT survey, we're seeing the contagiousness of the new variant that we saw arrive just before Christmas. There's no doubt it does spread very fast indeed."

It is too early to say when the national Covid lockdown in England will end, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday, adding that persistently high infection levels demonstrated how infectious a new variant was.

"I think it's too early to say when we'll be able to lift some of some of the restrictions," Johnson told broadcasters. (REUTERS)

"I think it's too early to say when we'll be able to lift some of some of the restrictions," Johnson told broadcasters.

"What we're seeing in the ONS data, in the REACT survey, we're seeing the contagiousness of the new variant that we saw arrive just before Christmas. There's no doubt it does spread very fast indeed."