World News – UK – Covid-19: Millions in England are severely restricted

css-14iz86j-BoldText {font size: bold;} In London and much of the east and south-east of England a strict new lock has come into effect

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said strict rules are needed after a new variant of the coronavirus has rocketed cases

Nearly 18 million people have Tier 4 restrictions in place at midnight, which means they can’t mix with other households over Christmas

In the rest of England, Scotland and Wales, the rules for indoor mixing are shortened from five days to Christmas

The strictest restrictions – similar to England’s second national lockdown – apply to all areas in the Southeast currently in the third tier and Kent, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Surrey (except Waverley), Gosport, Havant, Portsmouth, Rother and Hastings cover

It also applies in London (all 32 counties and the City of London) and in the east of England (Bedford, Central Bedford, Milton Keynes, Luton, Peterborough, Hertfordshire and Essex (except Colchester, Uttlesford and Tendring))

The changes for England, announced at a briefing in Downing Street on Saturday, will take two weeks The first review is on Jan. Due December

In Scotland, Covid restrictions will only be relaxed on Christmas Day, with mainland Scotland being subject to the strictest restrictions from Boxing Day

There is also a ban on travel to the rest of the UK during the festive period

In Wales, First Minister Mark Drakeford said the country would be locked from midnight

No changes have been made to the Christmas restrictions in Northern Ireland Three households are allowed to move between until 27 The country is expected to meet from Dec. December will be closed for six weeks

Following the announcement on Saturday, the Dutch government announced that it would offer passenger flights between the Netherlands and the UK from 5:00 a.m. (GMT) on Sunday until May 1st January bans

The prime minister’s announcement came just days after defending plans to relax restrictions during the festive period for five days – despite calls from some medical professionals to end the change

Mr Johnson told the Downing Street briefing on Saturday that he knew how “disappointing” the news would be, but said he believed there was no alternative

Scientists have warned that a new variant of the coronavirus variant is more contagious and is spreading faster Mr Johnson said the government must “change our method of defense”

The Prime Minister said the analysis suggested that the new variant could increase the R-number – which indicates whether an epidemic is growing or shrinking – by 04 or more

Union leader Sir Keir Starmer, who on Wednesday raised the prospect of tighter restrictions in the House of Commons, said he was “really frustrated”

The sharp increase in the proportion of coronavirus cases associated with this new variant is strong evidence that it is driving transmission

In London, 28% of the cases were due to this new mutation in mid-November, which has now risen to over 60%

This could explain why cases in London increased during the second lockdown, while in Kent, the third-stage measures appear to have had little impact in recent weeks

As England’s chief physician Prof Chris Whitty says this is a bad moment, but there is hope too

Mutations are constantly occurring – there have been thousands of variations of this coronavirus since it was created – and nothing to suggest that this is causing any more serious illness or affecting the effectiveness of the vaccine

The Prime Minister announced that 350000 people received the first dose of the vaccine in the first two weeks of the program

In the coming weeks, the number of GP-run vaccination clinics should increase six-fold, while the approval of a second vaccine from Oxford University could pave the way for mass vaccination centers to be set up in sports stadiums and conference centers

This could have vaccinated two million people a week. Within a few months, everyone over 65 could have been offered a shot. This could then feel completely different

But at the moment the pandemic continues – and for many it has only gotten more difficult

Mark Harper, chairman of the Covid Recovery Group of Tory MPs, who has been extremely critical of the government’s strategy, has called for Parliament to be recalled so MPs can debate and vote on the changes

The UK Chambers of Commerce Director General Adam Marshall asked what support would be available to companies whose cash flow projections were “once again thrown into chaos”

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British officials say the new strain is spreading faster, but it’s not believed to be any more deadly

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COVID-19, covid 19