Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced England will again go into lockdown as novel coronavirus (COVID-19) infections spiral out of control.

Johnson, speaking at a national press conference on Monday (January 4), said the lockdown comes as officials in the United Kingdom struggles to contain a mutation of COVID-19 which scientists note was up to 70 per cent more infectious than previous strains.

Johnson instructed people to stay home to contain the more contagious variant of the coronavirus.

“We must therefore go into a national lockdown, which is tough enough to contain this variant,” Johnson said in a televised address.

“That means the government is once again instructing you to stay at home.”

The UK confirmed a record-shattering 58,784 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours.

Under the new rules, set to come into effect as soon as possible, primary and secondary schools and colleges will be closed for face-to-face learning except for the children of key workers.

University students will not be returning until at least mid-February.

All nonessential shops and personal care services like hairdressers will be closed, and restaurants can only operate takeout services.

As of Monday, there were 26,626 COVID patients in hospitals in England, an increase of more than 30 per cent from a week ago. That is 40 per cent above the highest level of the first wave in the spring of 2020.

The first week of December was the last instance when a lockdown was imposed in England, which targeted the London metropolitan area.