More than 16 million Britons must now stay home after a lockdown in London and south-east England went into effect on Sunday and the government scrapped plans to relax rules on socializing at Christmas.
The government faced criticism for imposing an effective lockdown just days before Christmas, but Matt Hancock said the decision was made quickly after new evidence showed the new strain was responsible for the escalation of COVID-19 cases.
In announcing the measures, Prime Minister Boris Johnson abruptly broke plans to allow three households to mingle indoors for five days during the holiday period and imposed new Level 4 restrictions, similar to a national lockdown in March, in London and southeastern England.
Residents across the country were told to stay in their local areas, and additional police officers were deployed at train stations to prevent people from traveling outside of London.
“Cases have absolutely skyrocketed, so we have a long way to go,” Hancock told Sky News. “I think it will be very difficult to keep it under control until the vaccine has been released.” People in the new Level 4 areas “should behave like they have it,” he said.
Hancock said 350,000 people had been vaccinated as of Saturday morning, with the ambition to reach 500,000 by the end of the weekend.
Johnson had originally planned to ease the pandemic rules for five days during the holidays, but made an abrupt change in course after emergency talks with authorities about the virus mutation.
However, shortly after the British Prime Minister announced the changes on Saturday afternoon, some in London made their way to the capital’s train stations to try to travel to see relatives over Christmas, and there were scenes of overcrowding, something Hancock called “totally irresponsible.”
The new rules went into effect on Sunday.
Transportation Minister Grant Shapps asked people under the new restrictions not to travel. More British Transport Police officers are being deployed to ensure that “only those who need to undertake essential travel can travel safely,” it said in a statement.
With nonessential retail stores, as well as places like gyms and hair salons, ordering closure in Level 4 areas, some companies called the new measures a “real kick in the teeth.”
Hancock said the government acknowledges that the economic impact of the new measures will be “severe,” but that it must weigh that against the health consequences.
Emerging scientific evidence suggests that the new variant, which according to Hancock also appeared in Australia and continental Europe, may spread significantly faster than previous strains in circulation and is behind the rise in infections in recent days.
“We made the compromise not knowing that there was going to be a new variant that would spread much faster,” Hancock said of the original plans. He said there is “no evidence” that the new strain, VUI-202012/01 – is milder than the original virus.
Maria Van Kerkhove, Covid-19 Technical Lead at the World Health Organization, told the BBC’s Andrew Marr program: “We understand that the virus does not cause more serious illness.”
Resignation call
Videos shared on social media showed a rush towards trains leaving London on Saturday night.
Transportation Secretary Grant Shapps said in a statement that more transportation police will be deployed to prevent people from taking unnecessary trips out of the capital. Hancock said Shapps is examining compensation payments for canceled tickets.
Lisa Nandy of the opposition Labor Party said the policy change is “a perfect example” of Johnson “making a promise that he knew he couldn’t keep over Christmas.”
“I think we have this continuous drumming from the government,” Nandy told Andrew Marr.
Charles Walker, a lawmaker from Johnson’s Conservative party, told the Sunday Telegraph that Hancock should resign. Another Conservative MP, Mark Harper, representing a group opposing the lockdown measures, urged the government to summon lawmakers from their vacation so that they can vote on toughened measures against the virus.
Hancock said a vote will take place in January.
Meanwhile, European countries began banning flights from the UK on Sunday.
Following the example of the Netherlands, where the ban on all UK passenger flights went into effect on Sunday, a German government source said Berlin was also considering a similar measure as “a serious option” for flights from both Britain. as from South Africa.
The Dutch ban came into effect from 6:00 am (0500 GMT) and will last until January 1. And neighboring Belgium also said it would suspend flight and train arrivals from Britain from midnight.
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