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The UK has reported a record number of new Covid-19 infections as it battles an increase in cases caused by a variant strain of the disease.
Official figures showed there were 36,804 new cases and 691 more deaths within 28 days of a positive test, both markedly more than the day before.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his scientific advisers said on Saturday that a variant of the coronavirus, which could be up to 70% more transmissible, was spreading rapidly in Britain, although it was not thought to be any more deadly or cause further disease. serious.
Since then, the authorities have introduced strict social mixing restriction measures for London, South East England and Wales, while plans to ease restrictions during Christmas across the country have been drastically reduced or removed entirely.
Many countries, including Ireland, have also closed their borders to the United Kingdom due to concerns about the mutated strain of the coronavirus.
Interior Minister Priti Patel said ministers had been very proactive in implementing preventative measures to encourage people to stay home over the Christmas period.
She told BBC radio: “The government has been consistently ahead of the curve this year in terms of proactive measures regarding the coronavirus.”
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Meanwhile, Belgium recorded four cases of the mutant strain in early December, health officials said.
All four cases were discovered earlier this month in the northern regions of Flanders bordering the Netherlands, said Jan Eyckmans, a spokesman for Belgium’s health minister.
A spokesman for the national virus crisis center said the figure was conservative and that other infections with the strain may have gone undetected, as Belgium detects new mutations far less than Britain.
“It’s not much, but it’s not impossible that there will be more,” Yves Van Laethem said.
The infectious disease expert warned that the decision to close borders may have come too late.
“Isn’t the enemy among us already? I don’t know, but it’s not impossible,” he said.
“This closure was perhaps too late since they began to find cases of this English strain in September.”
Elsewhere, Italy reported 628 coronavirus-related deaths today, compared to 415 yesterday, according to the Italian Health Ministry.
Italy has also reported 13,318 new Covid-19 cases today, compared to 10,872 yesterday.
The daily count of new infections increased to 13,318 from 10,872.
After the usual weekend hiatus, the number of swab tests performed the day before rose to 166,205 from 87,889 earlier, the ministry said.
Italy, the first western country affected by the virus, has recorded 69,842 deaths from Covid-19 since the outbreak emerged in February, the highest number in Europe and the fifth highest in the world.
It has also registered about 1.977 million cases to date.
Italian patients in the hospital with Covid-19 stood at 24,948 today, 197 less than the day before. There were 201 new admissions to intensive care units, compared to 161 yesterday.
The actual number of intensive care patients decreased from 44 to 2,687, reflecting those who died or were discharged after recovery.
When the second wave of the epidemic in Italy accelerated rapidly in the first half of November, hospital admissions increased by around 1,000 per day, while intensive care occupancy increased by around 100 per day.
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