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The new variant of the virus that has been discovered in the UK is spreading 70 percent faster than other variants, according to the country’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Health Minister Hancock says the recently tightened restrictions in London and the south-east of England may remain “for a while” due to the rapid spread. The British media, including The Guardian, write that it could be months.
“Given how quickly this new variant is spreading, it will be very difficult to keep it under control until the vaccine is released,” Hancock told Sky News on Sunday.
Belgium and the Netherlands react
The plan is that around half a million Britons will have been vaccinated by the end of the weekend. Until all Britons have been vaccinated, Hancock urges those living in areas below the highest level of restriction, step four on a three-point scale previously, to “behave as if they have the virus.”
Previously announced restrictions for five days during Christmas were lifted in the worst affected areas and reduced to Christmas Day in the rest of England, Wales and Scotland. However, the “Christmas bubble”, as the reliefs are called in the British media, remains for the Northern Irish.
Due to the new variant of the virus, all incoming flights and trains to Belgium from the UK will be stopped, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo announced on Sunday. The decision applies from midnight to Monday.
EU scheduled talks
The night before Sunday, the Dutch government also announced that flights between the UK and the Netherlands would be discontinued. The stop is valid from 06:00 local time until January 1. The news came just hours after Britain introduced new restrictions for parts of the country in an attempt to slow the spread of the new variant of the virus.
The new, more contagious variant of the virus may already exist in the Netherlands and the matter is now being investigated further. In a case study in the Netherlands in early December, a virus of the variant reported by the United Kingdom was discovered, according to the country’s Ministry of Health.
“In the coming days, the government, together with other EU countries, will examine the possibilities of further reducing the risk of the new strain of virus coming from the UK,” the prime minister wrote in a statement.
Spread in the south east of England
The Netherlands has been closed for five weeks, until mid-January, to stop the spread of the infection. Among other things, all stores that are classified as non-essential are closed.
The most contagious new variant of the coronavirus is spreading primarily in south-east England and is rapidly becoming the dominant strain in the UK, according to a press conference with Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday night.
There is no evidence that the new mutation causes worse disease than other variants, and it is normal for viruses to mutate into a variety of variants over time. There is also no indication at this time that the virus variant reacts differently to vaccines that have been investigated, according to the WHO.
There are still no confirmed cases of the new mutation in Sweden, according to Professor Björn Olsen. In Denmark, the Ritzau news agency reports that nine cases have been discovered.
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