British Prime Minister Boris Johnson defended his plan to reduce growing rates of Covid-19 cases, dismissing opposition calls for another national lockdown by saying his regional approach would work.

"The advice that I have today is that if we do the regional approach ... we can bring down the R (reproduction rate) and we can bring down the virus," Johnson told parliament on Wednesday.

"The whole point is to seize this moment now to avoid the misery of another national lockdown."