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What has happened in the UK?
On September 20, a new strain of covid-19 was identified in the British county of Kent in southeastern England. This variant of the virus is suspected of being more contagious, however it is not thought to respond less to vaccines or make people sick. But the concern is that the new tribe will dominate British healthcare.
That is why Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Saturday that Christmas had been canceled, meaning that the promised relaxation of restrictions on Christmas would no longer occur. Just a week earlier, the prime minister had mocked opposition leader Keir Starmer when he suggested something similar. No, Boris Johnson didn’t really intend to cancel any Christmas, it was called then.
But this weekend, the prime minister changed completely and indicates the seriousness with which the government suddenly views the situation with the new strain of the virus.
How is the mood in the UK?
Health Minister Matt Hancock said the development was “an extremely difficult end to a terrible year.” After all, the last few weeks have been characterized by optimism: the United Kingdom was the first Western country to initiate mass vaccination against covid-19, and today more than 350,000 people have already received the vaccine.
The problem is, of course, that if this new mutation really turns out to be more contagious, vaccination will have to be much faster to control the spread of the infection. In addition, the new restrictions affect people’s lives and the economy as a whole. On Sunday, several European countries, including Sweden, decided to stop traveling from the UK. It is currently unclear what the new restrictions on travel from the UK will mean for trade. The uncertainty surrounding Brexit has already sparked truck queues in the country last week.
What about Brexit now?
As is well known, the UK plans to leave the common market and the EU customs union within ten days. Brexit will be implemented in practice. And right now there is no commercial agreement ready. Boris Johnson not only canceled Christmas, but could also be on the verge of pulling his country out of the EU in less than two weeks without a free trade deal. This is expected to have very important economic and commercial consequences.
But does this new strain of the virus mean that the Prime Minister can finally think about doing what he has so far refused? Will Boris Johnson Be Prepared to Postpone Brexit? It remains to be seen.
The question is how many crises a government can handle in parallel.
