The British government decided to reconfine London and the south-east of England from Sunday, giving a hard blow to the Christmas reunions, to try to curb a rise in contagion attributed to a new strain of the coronavirus.
“It seems that this spread is fueled by a new variant of the virus,” which is transmitted “much more easily,” the prime minister said at a news conference. “Nothing indicates that it will be more deadly or cause a more severe form of the disease” or that it will reduce the effectiveness of vaccines, he clarified however.
Residents of the capital and the south-east of England, already subject to significant restrictions, will be subject to a new alert level, the fourth and highest. They will have to stay home and shops considered “non-essential” will not be able to open. Last-minute Christmas shopping should be done no later than this Saturday.
Pubs, restaurants and museums in these two areas have been closed since last weekend.
All travel outside this area, whether within the national territory or to go abroad, will be prohibited.
In the areas governed by the maximum alert, meetings between members of different households may not be held, and in other areas they must be held in a single day.
“With great regret I have to tell them that we cannot let Christmas unfold as planned,” Boris Johnson explained, assuring that he had no “choice” and asking the British to “sacrifice an opportunity to see our loved ones this Christmas to better protect them so we can see them in the coming Christmas holidays. “
For London Mayor Sadiq Khan, the capital faces the “toughest Christmas since the war”.
The United Kingdom informed the World Health Organization (WHO) of the fastest spread of the new strain, health authorities said.
Other SARS-CoV-2 mutations were detected in other parts of the world.
– Towards the approval of the second vaccine –
The United Kingdom is the country in Europe hardest hit by the pandemic along with Italy, with more than 67,000 dead. The threshold of 2 million cases was exceeded on Saturday.
In all, some 38 million people in England – or 68% of the population – were already living under strict restrictions, such as the closure of pubs, restaurants and museums, and subject to a ban on meeting people. non-cohabiting, except for exceptions.
In the United Kingdom, where each nation is defining its own strategy in the face of the health crisis, a confinement will also be introduced in Wales from Sunday, just over a week earlier than expected.
Scotland also tightened measures and on Saturday announced a confinement starting the day after Christmas, which will be the only day families will be able to get together. In addition, the holidays were extended until January 11. Northern Ireland will be reconfined just after Christmas.
Boris Johnson’s executive, widely criticized for his handling of the crisis since the pandemic broke out, has called for vaccination, launching a campaign on December 8 that in the first phase focuses on the elderly and the medical staff.
Following the approval of the administration of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the British Medicines Agency (MHRA) should approve a second vaccine on 28 or 29 December, developed by the AstraZeneca laboratory with the University. of Oxford, according to The Telegraph.