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The British Health Minister asked citizens to act as if they were infected with the epidemic
The British Health Minister warned that the strict lockdown, which includes the capital London, due to the new strain of the Corona virus, could last for several months.
Matt Hancock added that the government does not want to cancel the celebration of Christmas, but it is “our duty” to take action to confront the new strain of the virus “out of control”.
On Saturday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the creation of a fourth stricter category of restrictions in some regions, moving away from plans to ease restrictions during the Christmas period, affecting the vacation plans of millions of people. .
This category obliges citizens subject to it to stay at home, prohibits mixing with those who do not live in closed places, and requires the closure of shops and companies that do not provide non-essential products or goods. The government requires that residents of areas subject to this category not go to areas subject to a milder category of restrictions.
Relaxing restrictions on contact between non-members and the room during the Christmas holidays is limited to Eid day only, instead of the five days previously provided.
The prime minister’s announcement to tighten the restrictions came days after he advocated easing them despite calls from health professionals to cancel those plans.
Hancock said: “We ask everyone to act like they are infected with the virus” to control the new strain of the virus.
And he added: “Of course, we do not want to cancel the Christmas celebrations, and we do not want to take any of these measures, but it is our duty to take them whenever there is clear evidence of their need.”
The health minister indicated that the government still does not know how long the fourth category restrictions will be imposed, but indicated that they could continue “for some time, until we expand the use of the vaccine.”
The opposition leader criticized the government’s approach to the new dynasty
For his part, the leader of the opposition Labor Party, Keir Starmer, said his party supports the new restrictions, but accused the prime minister of “gross negligence” for his delay in responding to developments in the field of the epidemic.
Starmer said, in an online press conference, that it was “clearly beyond reasonable doubt last week that Johnson’s plans for Christmas (holidays) are extremely risky.”
He added: “This is all due to the fact that the new strain of the virus that appeared in the recent period has not been carefully examined.”
He continued: “The alarm bells continued to ring for several weeks,” with the increase in the number of cases and the reach of the maximum capacity of the health authority in some areas, “but the prime minister chose to ignore all that.”
Susan Hopkins of Public Health England told the BBC that the agency notified the government on Friday that the new strain of the virus is spreading faster than others.
He noted that the new strain was first discovered in mid-October in a sample taken in September.
He added that evidence showed that those infected with the new strain had “larger viral masses,” which means that their rate of infection transmission is higher.
