LONDON (Reuters) – London and the south-east of England could remain under tighter coronavirus borders for a while, the British health minister suggested on Sunday, adding that a new fast-growing strain has forced the government to abandon plans to reduce Christmas restrictions.
The government has been criticized for imposing an effective blockade on more than 16 million people just days before Christmas, but Matt Hancock said Saturday’s decision was made quickly after new evidence showed the new strain was responsible for the spiraling of COVID-19 cases.
The variant, which officials say is up to 70% more transmissible than the original, has also raised concerns about a wider spread. Several European countries, including Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands, have said they are taking steps to prevent people from arriving in the UK, including bans on flights and trains.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson abruptly broke plans to allow three households to mingle indoors for five days during the festive period and imposed new Tier 4-level borders – similar to a national blockade in March – in London and south-east England. .
Hancock suggested that tougher measures – requiring about a third of England’s population to stay at home, except for key reasons such as work – could remain in place until vaccinations become more available.
“We have a long way to go to solve this,” Hancock told Sky News.
“In essence, we need to get that vaccine to keep people safe. Given how quickly this new variant is spreading, it will be very difficult to keep it under control until we launch the vaccine. “
The UK began inoculating people using the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech earlier this month.
Like other European countries, the UK is struggling to contain new waves of the virus. The number of cases in the UK rose by 35,928 on Sunday, the highest daily increase since the beginning of the pandemic and recorded 326 deaths, reaching the official number of over 67,000.
ALARM BELLS
Keir Starmer, the leader of the opposition Labor Party, told a news conference that while supporting the new measures, “once again the prime minister waited until 11am to make this decision.
“The alarm bells have been ringing for weeks, but the prime minister has chosen to ignore them … He told the country to go ahead and have a merry Christmas … and yet three days later he tells millions of families to they’re breaking their plans, “he said, referring to Johnson’s comments on Wednesday.
Shortly after Johnson announced the changes on Saturday afternoon, some in London headed to the stations to try to travel to see Christmas relatives and there were crowded scenes – what Hancock called “totally irresponsible.” .
The new rules went into effect on Sunday.
Transport Minister Grant Shapps urged those subject to the new restrictions not to travel. Several British transport police officers have been seconded to ensure that “only those who need essential travel can travel safely,” he said in a statement.
The other nations in Britain, whose response to the pandemic differs from that of England, have also taken action. Scotland has banned travel to the rest of the UK, effectively closing the border, and Christmas relaxation will be limited to December 25th.
The whole of Wales will enter Tier 4 at midnight, but two households can mix on Christmas Day.
Non-essential retail stores, as well as places such as gyms and hair salons, have been ordered to close in Level 4 areas, and some companies have called the new measures a “real blow to the teeth”.
Hancock said the government has acknowledged that the economic impact of the new measures will be “severe”, but that it must balance this with the health consequences.
Other countries have also identified a new variant of coronavirus, including South Africa.
An epidemiologist at the University of Basel in Switzerland, Emma Hodcroft, said on Twitter that the strains in the UK and South Africa are not the same.
Additional reporting by Michael Shields in Zurich; Edited by John Stonestreet and Frances Kerry