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Boris Johnson arrived on Saturday night with the news that all Brits fear these days.
The sharp increase in the infection has led London, the south-east and the east of England to introduce stricter restrictions, so that residents cannot celebrate Christmas with anyone outside their home.
The background is a dramatic increase in infection that is linked to a mutation in the coronavirus, which is estimated to have made the virus up to 70 percent more contagious.
On Sunday, the country’s Health Minister warned that new restrictions in these parts of England could persist for months.
– Trying to escape before midnight.
Stops travelers
According to the WHO, so far this mutation has also been detected in Australia, Denmark and the Netherlands.
Germany is reportedly considering stopping all UK and South African air traffic, fearing corona infection. The news agency AFP reports. France does the same.
Belgium is also said to have suspended all UK flights and trains for at least 24 hours starting at midnight.
Norwegian health authorities are also considering new austerity measures to prevent the new variant of the virus from spreading in Norway.
– It is important that we act quickly to try to prevent this variant of the virus from reaching Norway and spreading further nationally. It is important that all people who have arrived from the UK in the last 14 days comply with the quarantine rules. We have strict entry measures, but are now considering whether further measures need to be implemented, says Health and Care Services Minister Bent Høie in a press release.
Crushing verdict on the Swedes
On Friday, it was also announced that the Netherlands will stop all flights from the UK on Sunday. Currently, the decision is valid until January 1.
Italy also now stops all flights to and from the UK, reports the newspaper la Repubblica. It is not known how long it will apply.
– It will be hard
Restrictions in various parts of England mean that all non-essential shops, hair salons and gyms will be closed. At the same time, a home office requirement is introduced for those who can, and residents are encouraged to stay home.
“You can only meet one person from another outdoor household,” Johnson reported Saturday.
In an interview with the Sky News program Ridge Sunday On Sunday morning, Health Minister Matt Hancock suggested that people in these areas should wait to live with these restrictions until large sections of the population have been vaccinated.
– Based on how fast this new variant of the virus spreads, I think it will be very difficult to keep it under control before the vaccine is launched.
By Saturday morning, 350,000 Britons had received the corona vaccine, writes Sky News.
“We can see the way through this, but the next few months will be difficult,” Hancock told Sky News.
Up to a third of the country’s population lives in areas that are now subject to restriction level four in England.
– The infection numbers at level four have skyrocketed in the last few days and in the last one or two weeks. We have a long way to go to resolve this, Hancock continued.
He cautioned that the restrictions were introduced because the virus mutation “was out of control.” In addition, he requested that all residents of these areas live as if they were already infected with the virus.
– Unfortunately, the new strain of the virus is out of control. We need to get it under control, and the only way to do that is to limit social contacts. “Especially in the areas with the strictest restrictions, everyone must behave as if they are infected,” he told Sky News.
Now there’s a full party in Wuhan
Reisekaos
The rest of England can celebrate Christmas on Christmas Day with two other households, but cannot stay overnight.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have also introduced stricter restrictions. Wales has entered level four, while Scotland has introduced an entry ban from England.
New restrictions in England last night created travel chaos.
In the hours before the midnight restrictions were introduced, passengers encountered crowded trains on their way out of London as many tried to “escape” from the big city, writes the AP news agency, quoted by The Guardian.
Passengers were reportedly told that social distancing would not be possible due to the volume of people on board, and those who felt uncomfortable should get off the train, according to one passenger.
In hindsight, additional police officers have been deployed to ensure travel restrictions and ban are enforced.
In Scotland, authorities have warned that police will use force “as a last resort” to prevent people from crossing the border into England.
“We simply cannot risk more of the new variant of the virus entering the country, if it can be prevented,” Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon said, according to The Guardian.
