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Talks between the UK and France on reopening trade and transport through the Canal are ongoing as the UK government’s chief scientific adviser said further restrictions in the country might be necessary because cases of a Mutant strain of Covid are now popping up “everywhere”.
Sir Patrick Vallance gave the grim warning after more than 40 countries banned flights in the UK due to fears regarding the spread of the coronavirus variant.
Comments from the chief scientific adviser followed London and parts of southern and eastern England rushing into the new Level 4 lockdown regime over the weekend after existing Level 3 measures proved inadequate to control the spread of the most infectious variant.
Vallance noted that a closure may be necessary in wider areas of England, particularly as the Christmas mix may result in a further spread of cases.
Scotland and Northern Ireland have already announced new closures since Boxing Day, while the strict restrictions in Wales will only be eased on Christmas Day before being imposed again.
Public health officials in Ireland have said that there is still no “hard evidence” that the new Covid-19 strain circulating in the UK is more infectious than other strains.
Speaking yesterday, the director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory, Dr. Cillian De Gascun, said, however, that it is “prudent” to act on the basis that this could be the case until further investigation is carried out.
Vallance’s stern warning came as:
- Boris Johnson spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron as trucks queued in Kent after Paris banned them from crossing the English Channel.
- More than 500,000 people have received the first dose of a vaccine in the UK.
- The prime minister refused to guarantee that schools in England will reopen after Christmas, saying that “we want, if possible, the schools to be operational again in a phased manner in early January”, but “the most logical thing is to continue the path of the epidemic ”.
After the UK government took steps to impose Level 4 restrictions, France closed its border with the UK for 48 hours, leading to delays for freight trucks crossing the Canal.
The M20 in Kent was closed last night to allow for the implementation of Operation Brock, contingency measures involving the use of a mobile barrier to keep traffic on the motorway whenever there is a disruption to the Canal, as confusion surrounded the amount of trucks affected by the closure of the border.
Johnson told a Downing Street news conference that the number of trucks waiting on the M20 had been reduced from 500 to 170, but Highways England later said that Kent police had told them there were 900 trucks parked on the motorway. at 6 pm yesterday.
Government sources told the Palestinian Authority news agency that discussions with the French government were “ongoing” after Johnson said last night that the two countries were working “to unblock the flow of trade as quickly as possible.” .
The BBC reported that plans to reopen the border will take effect from tomorrow, citing the French Minister for Europe, Clement Beaune.
The virus spreads rapidly
At the Downing Street press conference, Vallance said: “The evidence about this virus is that it spreads easily, it is more transmissible, we absolutely need to make sure we have the right level of restrictions.
“I think the number of the variant is likely to increase across the country and I think therefore the measures will likely need to be increased in some places, in due course, not reduced.
The New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threat Advisory Group (Nervtag) met again yesterday to consider the new variant and said that while it does not appear to alter the course of the disease, it spreads more easily.
“That again reinforces the point that it’s important to get ahead of this and make sure the tier system is right to stop things, and not look at it and react in hindsight,” Vallance said.
Given the “unavoidable mix” around Christmas, “I think there will be some increases in the numbers over the next few weeks,” he added.
The closure of routes through the Canal alarmed businesses, including those dependent on the smooth passage of agricultural products to the UK, as well as tourists looking to leave for the mainland, all with the added complication of the end of the period of Brexit transition on December 31.
The Northern Ireland Executive held an emergency meeting late at night amid a dispute over whether to introduce a travel ban to Britain, proposed by Sinn Féin but rejected by the executive.
However, ministers will issue a guide warning against non-essential travel between Northern Ireland and the Republic and Great Britain.
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The UK government said a further 215 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Monday, while there were 33,364 more laboratory-confirmed cases as of 9 a.m. Sunday.
Official figures indicated that Wales has had more than 600 cases of the new variant, but this is “almost certainly a significant underestimate,” Prime Minister Mark Drakeford said.
PA analysis found that, of the 127 acute hospital trusts with a 24-hour emergency department in England, 42 (33%) had more Covid-19 patients on December 18 than at the peak of the first wave in spring.
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