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LONDON: The British government will review whether it needs to impose its more stringent COVID-19 restrictions on more of the country on Wednesday (December 23), as a highly infectious variant continues to spread but will not change Christmas rules, a minister said.
Britain reported a record number of new infections on Tuesday as a mutated strain of the coronavirus, which could be up to 70 percent more transmittable than the original, spiked the number of cases and hospital admissions.
READ: What we know about the new strain of coronavirus found in Britain
On Saturday, strict social mixing restrictions were introduced for London, south-east England and Wales, while plans to ease restrictions during Christmas across the country were drastically reduced or removed entirely.
Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said the government’s COVID-19 operations committee, chaired by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, will meet Wednesday to decide whether further action is needed.
“I cannot prejudge that. But we will look at the number of cases in all parts of the country. And in particular what the variant is doing,” he told BBC TV.
READ: Comment: Tight UK restrictions are your only hope of curbing new strain of coronavirus
Jenrick said there were “absolutely no plans” to change the rules allowing three households to meet on Christmas Day for people in England who do not live in places covered by the highest level of “level four” restrictions, essentially the British capital and the surrounding area. .
However, when asked if broader action would be taken the day after Christmas, December 26, he said: “We do not have an immediate plan to take action, but the number of cases is increasing and the variant is spreading to other parts of the country.
“So we will see if more needs to be done and make sure that the tiered system is robust enough for the new circumstances.”
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