LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday discussed with his top ministers what urgent action should be taken after it was confirmed that a new strain of COVID-19 virus could spread more quickly and cause an increase in cases.
The BBC reported that London and the south-east of England would be placed at a new higher level of restrictions and that the government would reduce the expected relaxation of the rules over Christmas, but gave no further details.
Johnson will hold a press conference around 1600 GMT during which he will discuss what his plans are in the face of an increase in infections in London and the south-east of England related to a new, more transmissible variant of the virus.
The English chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, said that while there was no current evidence that the new coronavirus variant caused a higher mortality rate or affected vaccines, there was urgent work to confirm it.
“We have alerted the World Health Organization and continue to analyze available data to improve our understanding,” Whitty said in a statement.
Britain reported 28,507 new cases of COVID-19 and 489 deaths on Friday, with an estimated “R” reproduction number between 1.1 and 1.2, meaning the number of cases is rising rapidly.
Johnson said Friday that he hoped England would not need a third blockade after Christmas and has so far resisted calls to change plans to ease restrictions for five days during the holiday season, allowing three separate homes to be gather inside.
Much of the country, including London, is currently in the highest three-tier restraint system to curb the spread of the pandemic. The Daily Telegraph said ministers could now announce brakes on travel between the south-east of England, including the capital and the rest of the country.
The BBC said these areas would now be in a new “Level 4”, with a tightening of standards for Christmas.
“Not acting decisively now will mean more suffering,” Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust and a member of the government’s Scientific Advisory Group (SAGE), said on Twitter. “We have to keep asking ourselves ‘we’re doing enough, we’re acting fast enough'”
The opposition Labor Party said the tier system had failed to curb the spread of the virus.
“It has been clear for a few days that the virus is back out of control in some parts of the country,” said Jonathan Ashworth, a Labor health spokesman.
Additional reports by Elizabeth Piper; Edited by Ros Russell, William Maclean, Catherine Evans