The mutation of the coronavirus causes the United Kingdom to tighten restrictions and blockades grow in Europe on Christmas Eve | World

With the measure, the United Kingdom joins the list of places that have decreed, in recent days, more rigid blockades to stop the spread of Covid-19 before the holidays. Most of the measures have been taken in Europe, which has seen an increase in infections for weeks.

See some of the restrictions below:

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced this Saturday (19) that London and the southeast of England would go from level 3 of restrictions against Covid-19 to level 4, the highest. The change will take place from Sunday (20) to December 30.

With the new measures, residents should stay home, with limited exceptions. Shops, gyms and leisure and personal care facilities will be closed. People should work from home if they can.

Also, residents of Level 4 regions should not mix with anyone outside their home during Christmas.

The restrictions come amid the emergence of a new variant of the coronavirus, which may be 70% more contagious.

“Given the first evidence we have of this new variant of the virus, the potential risk it represents, it is with a heavy heart that I must say that we cannot continue with Christmas as planned,” Johnson said at a news conference.

The prime minister also said that the new virus variant is concentrated in level 4 areas, but it is present throughout the country.

In locations outside of level 4, up to three families can meet, but this will be limited to Christmas Day only, instead of the five days previously set. The rules no will relax on December 31st.

This Saturday (19), Italy announced restrictions on “Red zone” that will be in force throughout the country from December 24 to 27, from December 31 to January 3 and from January 5 to 6.

During this period, people “can leave home only for reasons of work, necessity and health,” Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said, according to the British network BBC.

The rules will allow people to host a maximum of two guests, not including children under the age of 14, in their homes. The current curfew, from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., will remain in effect.

From December 28 to 30 and January 4, people will be able to leave the house, but the bars and restaurants will remain closed.

Switzerland determined on Friday (18) that, as of Tuesday (22), restaurants, shopping centers, sports gyms, gyms and other entertainment venues will have to close. The stores will remain open, but with limited capacity. The measures will run until January 22.

Germany is in “partial lockdown” until January 10. Only essential services, such as supermarkets, pharmacies and banks, will be able to operate during this period.

From Wednesday (16), you can only find a maximum of 5 people, from 2 different houses. Children and teenagers up to 14 years old do not count, but this age limit varies across the country: in Berlin, for example, only teenagers up to 12 years old are not counted.

At Christmas, the rules will be relaxed a bit: from December 24 to 26 the person limit can be exceeded and visitors can come from more than 2 houses. Adolescents up to 14 years old will also not be counted on these days.

On Tuesday (15), France relaxed the national blockade in force since the end of October. People no longer have to fill out a form to say why they are leaving their homes, but bars, restaurants, theaters, cinemas and cable cars will remain closed.

There will be a nationwide curfew from 8:00 pm to 6:00 am, which will be suspended on Christmas Eve, but not on New Year’s Eve. The new measures will remain in effect until at least January 20reported the BBC.

Kindergartens and schools are open, but Universities will be closed until February 2021, at a minimum.

In Austria, the government announced on Friday (18) that the country would enter its third blockade after Christmas. Starting December 26, non-essential stores will be closed and circulation outside of homes will be restricted.

Starting January 18, stores and restaurants will reopen, but only for those who tested negative for Covid-19. The condition is part of a planned mass testing program. Schools will resume classroom instruction on the same date.

On Friday (18), Sweden recommended, for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, the use of masks in public transport at peak times. The country also announced the closure of non-essential public workplaces, such as gyms, swimming pools and libraries.

The country will also reduce the maximum number of people seated at a table in restaurants: from 8 to 4. The sale of alcoholic beverages after 8 pm will be prohibited. Education will be held remotely for high school students until January 24.

The King of Sweden said that his country had failed in the way it handled Covid-19. In a televised statement Thursday, he harshly criticized the policy adopted by the government during the pandemic, which resulted in a high number of deaths among the elderly.