Londoners crowded trains and motorways on Saturday night as they hurried out of the capital ahead of new restrictions announced by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Johnson announced that London and large parts of the south-east of England will enter Covid-19 level 4 restrictions on Sunday.
Level 4 is the highest possible level of restriction in England, effectively renewing the blockade seen in the spring.
Until 7 pm on Saturday night, there were no vacancies on trains leaving London from several stations in the capital, reports PA News Agency. The passengers complained that they could not socially distance themselves inside the train cars.
The scenes were condemned by politicians and public health experts. London Mayor Sadiq Khan called the introduction of restrictions “devastating” in a BBC interview, adding that scenes at London stations “were a direct consequence of the chaotic manner in which the announcement was made and in its final stages.”
I understand why people want to come back to see their mothers, fathers, old relationships, but I think it’s wrong, “he said.
Speaking directly to Londoners who left London, he said that while he may not have broken the rules, he may have removed the virus from London and could endanger “your mother, father, old relationships”.
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chairman of the board of the British Medical Association (BMA), said such scenes had not been seen “in East Asian countries that have managed pandemics well in the past”, adding that the government should have ensured that there is control of the set of measures.
“While Christmas will obviously be ruined for many, the worst thing we can do is infect our loved ones,” he told Sky News.
UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock defended the government’s actions on Sky, saying they had no choice but to take action after new scientific evidence was presented that a new strain of the virus was spreading faster than others in the UK. Kingdom.
“It was our duty to act,” he said. “We acted very quickly and decisively with the announcements the prime minister made yesterday.”
New strain: England’s medical director, Professor Chris Whitty, warned on Saturday that a recently identified variant of Covid-19 “can spread faster” than previous strains of the virus.
“It’s spreading very fast now,” Johnson warned. “With a very heavy heart I say that we cannot continue Christmas as we planned.”
As with other new variants or strains of Covid-19, it has a genetic footprint that makes it easy to track and happens to be one that is now common. This does not mean that the mutation has made it easier to spread, nor does it necessarily mean that this variation is more dangerous.
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