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A new closure has been announced for London and South East Britain – Medical Director talks of faster spread. The new variant of the virus is known to be up to 70 percent more contagious than that.
21:07, December 19, 2020
Due to the rapid spread of a new variant of the corona virus in Britain, the government has a new shutdown for the capital, London. and some regions of the southeast of the island. The recently discovered variant is up to 70 percent more contagious than the previously known form, Prime Minister Boris Johnson told reporters in London on Saturday. But there is no evidence that vaccines against the mutation are less effective.
“There is still a lot we don’t know. But there is no evidence that the new variant causes more or more serious disease,” Johnson said. A higher mortality rate for the VUI2020 / 12/01 virus variant has not yet been determined. The government’s top scientific adviser, Patrick Vallance, emphasized that in December 60 percent of new infections in London affected the new variant. “It is spreading rapidly and is about to become the dominant line,” he said.
Due to the spread, the government tightened the crown’s restrictions in London, for example: Christmas parties with family and friends are now canceled for millions of people. “If the virus changes its method of attack, we will have to change our method of defense,” Johnson said. “Without these measures, the signs suggest, the number of infections will skyrocket, hospitals will be overwhelmed and thousands more will lose their lives.”
Instead of three levels of corona warning, there will be four in the future – In addition to the capital, other regions of the southeast also fall into the highest. There, residents can only leave their homes for important reasons, such as going to the doctor or going to work. Even at Christmas she shouldn’t be meeting members of other households, Johnson stressed. “We are sacrificing the opportunity to see our loved ones this Christmas for a better chance of saving their lives so that we can see them at Christmas in the future.”
All non-essential businesses and other facilities, such as gyms, hair salons, movie theaters, and beauty salons, must close. Residents of the highest level 4 of Corona cannot leave this zone.
Restrictions have been tightened in other parts of the country as well, which can decide on crown measures for themselves. A stop in Wales should also be applied from this Sunday, analogous to the fourth stage in England. Scotland imposed a travel ban on other parts of the UK.
The BRC trade association warned of dire consequences for the economy. “For companies, the coming and going of government is anything but useful,” said Helen Dickinson, director of the association. The decision is made in the middle of the most important phase of retail before Christmas.
About 27,000 new corona cases were tallied in Britain on Saturday, so there have been more than two million infections in the country so far. Around 83,000 people have so far died with or from the Covid-19 lung disease. The government had started mass vaccination a good ten days ago. So far, around 350,000 people across the country have received funding from the German pharmaceutical company Biontech and its US partner Pfizer, as Johnson said.
England’s chief physician Chris Whitty also warned of the new form of the corona virus. Studies have shown that this virus can spread faster than the previous variant. The corresponding results have been sent to the World Health Organization (WHO).
