LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed an effective blockade on more than 16 million people in England and reversed plans to ease curbs over Christmas, saying Britain was treating a new strain of coronavirus until 70% more transmissible than the original.
While Johnson and his scientific advisers believe the vaccines will still be effective and the new strain is neither more deadly nor more serious in terms of the disease caused, he said Saturday the government needed to take urgent action.
The number of cases in England has increased in the last two weeks due to the variant of the virus.
Johnson tore up plans to allow three homes to be mixed indoors for five days during the holiday season and said London and the south-east of England, which are currently at the highest level of a system of three-level rules, 4 levels would now be placed on a new level, similar to those of a recent national closure.
“It’s with a very heavy heart that I have to tell you that we can’t continue with Christmas as planned,” Johnson said at a news conference. “I sincerely believe there is no open alternative.”
Level 4 people (16.4 million and about a third of the population of England) will have to stay at home, except for essential reasons such as work, and will close non-essential retail services, as well as leisure and indoor entertainment.
The social mix will be limited to meeting another person in an outdoor space. The new rules will take effect from midnight on Saturday.
Johnson, who has been criticized for the initial response to the pandemic for being too slow, had resisted calls to change Christmas relaxation plans, saying Wednesday it would be “frankly inhumane” to ban it.
However, those who are now at level 4 will not be able to mingle with others during Christmas. And everyone in England will now be allowed to see friends and family only on the same day as Christmas, December 25th.
‘CONFUSION’
“In this time of national crisis, the British people want clear and decisive leadership,” Labor opposition leader Keir Starmer said on Twitter. “All we get from Boris Johnson is confusion and indecision.”
Within minutes of Johnson’s announcement, shoppers took to the streets to try to stock up on Christmas gifts and supplies.
“It was pretty quiet all day, suddenly there was this mass of people,” said a sales assistant at a department store in Westfield Shopping Center in west London, one of the largest in Europe. .
The other nations of the United Kingdom, whose response to the pandemic differs from that of England at times, also took action.
Scotland said on Saturday it would impose a travel ban on the rest of the UK and that Christmas relaxation would be limited to December 25th only. All of Wales will enter level 4 from midnight, but two homes can be mixed on Christmas Day.
Business leaders said the government should provide emergency financial support.
“The consequences of this decision will be serious,” said Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium.
‘TAKEN OFF’
Like other European countries, Britain is struggling to contain new waves of the virus. On Saturday, it reported 27,052 new cases of COVID-19, accounting for a total of more than 2 million and 534 more deaths, bringing the official number to more than 67,000.
There has been an increase in infections caused by the new strain of the virus – VUI202012 / 01.
“This virus has taken off, moves quickly and inevitably leads to a sharp increase in hospital admissions,” said British scientific director Patrick Vallance.
The English chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, said authorities had alerted the World Health Organization and were continuing to analyze the data.
“There is no evidence to suggest that it is more lethal or causes more serious illness,” Johnson said. “There is no evidence that the vaccine will be less effective against the new variant.
Other countries have also reported variants of the virus. South Africa said on Friday that one of the varieties of its kind was carrying a second wave of infections there.
Additional reports by Elizabeth Piper, William Schomberg and Yann Tessier; Edited by Catherine Evans and Frances Kerry