Buyers on Regent Street, London, on December 15th.
Photographer: Daniel Leal-Olivas / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Daniel Leal-Olivas / AFP / Getty Images
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UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock warned that the new mutant strain of coronavirus is “out of control” and suggested that parts of England will be trapped in the new higher level of restrictions until a deployment is deployed. vaccine.
More than 16 million Britons are now required to stay home when a closure came into force on Sunday in London and the south-east of England and the government rejected plans to relax socializing rules for Christmas in an attempt to control the new variant of the virus that is spreading rapidly.
The measures ban the mixing of households in the capital and the south-east and restrict socialization on Christmas Day only in the rest of England. Residents across the country were told to stay in their local areas.
“Cases have skyrocketed absolutely, so we have a long way to go,” Hancock told Sky’s Sophy Ridge program on Sunday. “I think it will be very difficult to keep it under control until the vaccine has been spread.” People in the new so-called level 4 areas “should behave as if they had it,” he said.
Johnson had initially planned to ease the pandemic rules for five days during the holidays, but made an abrupt change of spot after emergency talks about the virus mutation with its senior officials. Emerging scientific evidence suggests that the new variant – which according to Hancock has also appeared in Australia and continental Europe – can spread significantly faster than previous strains in circulation and is behind a large increase in infections in the United States. last days.
Most Sunday newspapers carried stories of people canceling Christmas plans. Conservative MP Mark Harper, who represents a group that opposes the closure measures, urged the government to convene lawmakers on their holidays so they can hold a vote.
Hancock said a vote will take place in January.
“We made the commitment without knowing that there would be a new variant that would spread much faster,” Hancock said, about the original plans. He said there is “no evidence” that the new strain, VUI-202012/01, is softer than the original virus.
Hancock said 350,000 people had been vaccinated as of Saturday morning, with the ambition of reaching 500,000 by the end of the weekend.