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– We made the decision to travel because our parents wanted us to go. We couldn’t bear the thought of being trapped in a small apartment without fresh air with a small child, a woman told the PA news agency.
On Sunday night, several Britons who remained in London chose to leave the capital before the new restrictions took effect on Sunday morning.
At a press conference on Saturday afternoon, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was surprising news for the British.
After it emerged earlier this week that a new and more contagious variant of the coronavirus had been discovered in the country, it was decided on Saturday to introduce a series of new measures in highly infected areas.
“I’ve received initial data showing that it spreads 70 percent more frequently than the normal corona variant,” Johnson said.
Therefore, the British authorities chose to introduce a new level of action, which will apply to London and the south-east of England.
One of the measures in the newly created level four zones is to avoid entering and leaving.
Fight the clock
This led to a battle against time for several Brits who did not want to stay in London for Christmas.
Izzy, 22, of Bristol, told The Guardian that she felt it would be safer to go home to celebrate Christmas than to stay in the capital.
– I’m a little nervous that they put up barricades outside the city, or that something else prevents me from going home. I moved out of my apartment so it was up to my dad to come get me before level four was introduced, he said.
DEPARTURE: There were several Brits who were in a hurry to get home for Christmas night through Sunday. Photo: Stefan Rousseau / AP / NTB
He turned around and canceled Christmas
Earlier this week, Boris Johnson said he saw it as “inhuman” to cancel the Christmas celebration for the British. Therefore, it was planned that households could meet with two other households during the first five days after Christmas Eve in the country.
But on Saturday, the counter message came from the top team.
– As Prime Minister, it is my job to make tough decisions to do what is right for the people of the nation. It is with a heavy heart that I say that we cannot go to Christmas holidays as planned. Those who live in high-infection areas should not associate with people outside their home at Christmas, Johnson said.
And it’s not just those living in high-infection areas in the UK who need to change their plans for Christmas. The entire population of the country must.
“In the rest of the country, where Christmas rules have allowed three households to meet over the holidays, this is now reduced to only apply on the first day of Christmas,” Johnson said.
Netherlands rejects UK entry
After it became known on Saturday that the new variant of the coronavirus has spread in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands chose to stop all flights from the country.
They do this to limit the spread of the new variant. The closure will apply to all flights from the UK until January 1.
