Coronavirus Covid-19: Boris Johnson Cancels Christmas For Millions In England As New Strain Spreads Rapidly

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson canceled Christmas for millions of people in London and south-east England after scientists said a new variant of the coronavirus is spreading faster.

Johnson announced that, beginning Sunday, the Southeast areas currently at Level 3 will be moved to a new Level 4, effectively reverting to November’s lockdown rules. It is estimated that it will affect around 20 million people.

Nonessential stores, gyms, movie theaters, hair salons and bowling alleys will be closed for two weeks, while people will be restricted from meeting another person from another household in a public outdoor space.

The rest of England will also see the Christmas “bubble” policy, which allows up to three households to meet during the holiday period, severely restricted and will apply only on Christmas Day.

Johnson told a Downing Street news conference that he was making the changes with “great regret.”

He said: “I know how much emotion people invest at this time of year and how important it is, for example, that grandparents see their grandchildren, that families are together.

“So I know how disappointing this will be. But we have said throughout this pandemic that we must and will be guided by science.”

“When science changes, we must change our response.”

Johnson was forced to act after new figures Friday night showed a 60 percent increase in the average weekly case rate in London.

Johnson said he “bitterly regretted” the changes to the Christmas arrangements.

The Prime Minister said at a press conference in Downing Street: “We, of course, bitterly regret the changes that are necessary, but sadly when the facts change you have to change your approach.

“The report I had yesterday about this mutation of the virus, particularly about the speed of transmission, could not be ignored.”

The prime minister said the government was following scientific advice on changes to coronavirus restrictions.

“Because science is clearly changing and it has changed in the sense that our understanding of this new virus, its transmissibility, has radically changed in just the last 24 hours.”

Johnson added: “We just can’t ignore that and that is why we are taking these additional steps today to protect the country.”

He said the new restrictions were necessary due to the spread of a variant of the coronavirus that spread faster than the original.

He told a Downing Street briefing: “It seems that this spread is now being driven by the new variant of the virus that we discussed earlier this week.

“Our advisers at the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threat Advisory Group (Nervtag) have spent the last few days analyzing this new variant; there is no evidence that it causes more serious illness or higher mortality, but it appears to be transmitted much more quickly.

“This is initial data and is subject to review, but it is the best that we have at the moment and we have to act on the information that we have because it is spreading very fast now.”

The affected area includes all of London and much of southern and eastern England, including Kent, most of Essex, most of Surrey, as well as Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Hertfordshire, parts of Bedfordshire, Gosport, Portsmouth, and Peterborough.

Various lockdown measures will also be introduced in Wales and Scotland.

Scotland’s Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced a “strict travel ban” between Scotland and the rest of the UK for the Christmas holidays. Bubbles will only be allowed on Christmas Day, and all of Scotland will go into level four restrictions from Boxing Day.

The measure follows new restrictions in other parts of the world.

Italy will also enter a nationwide lockdown during the Christmas and New Years period.

The country will be under the blockade of the “red zone” between Christmas Eve and December 27 and between December 31 and January 3 and January 5 and 6, when Italy celebrates the feast of the epiphany.

And in Australia, residents of Sydney’s North Beaches face restrictions as a new outbreak quickly spreads there. And there are fears that an “unrestricted Christmas” may seem unlikely as residents are told to stay home until at least 11:59 pm on December 23.

They can go to work, but bars, gyms and churches will be closed.

The only reasons residents will be allowed to leave the home are to go to work or school, buy food, exercise, receive medical care, have access to childcare, or provide emergency care or assistance.

Confirmed COVID-19 cases have visited various locations in Sydney, including a gym, hair salon, and several restaurants.

NSW Health has recorded another 23 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, 21 of which are linked to the new group. There are caveats to expect a repeat of those numbers today.

Basically, the area was “reverting to the restrictions that were in place in March.”

News.com.au reported that a restriction-free Christmas seemed practically impossible for most of Sydney after health authorities, frantically tracing contacts, added dozens of places to their alert list last night.

And Western Australia is re-establishing a strict border with New South Wales.

The Sydney to Hobart yacht race has been canceled for the first time in 76 years.