[ad_1]
A total of around 16.4 million people are affected by the tightening, almost a third of England’s population. It is also not allowed to meet with members of other households during Christmas. “As Prime Minister, it is my duty to make tough decisions and do what must be done to protect the people of this country,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Twitter Saturday night.
Until recently, he had rejected calls from scientists and the opposition for tougher measures to be implemented during the holidays. Now millions of people have to celebrate alone. “We are sacrificing the opportunity to see our loved ones this Christmas for a better chance of saving their lives and being able to see them at Christmas in the future,” Johnson said.
The new type of virus is much more contagious
The prime minister warned that the new VUI2020 / 12/01 variant of the corona virus was spreading rapidly. The mutation is up to 70 percent more contagious than the previously known form. Many clinics in the south-east of England are almost in full swing and in many places unnecessary operations have been postponed. Johnson emphasized that there was no evidence that the vaccines were less effective against the new corona variant, that the disease was more severe, or that there were more deaths.
To be sure, social life is shutting down in much of the country. In London and other regions of south-east England, the new higher level of corona 4 warning will apply in the future. People are only allowed to leave their homes for important reasons, for example to go to the doctor or to to work. All non-essential businesses, such as gyms, hair salons, movie theaters or beauty salons, must close. Residents cannot leave this area.
Close in Wales too
So far there have been three levels in England. It was planned that from December 23 to 27, up to three households across the country could come together to form “Christmas bubbles.” This has now been limited to Christmas Day outside of Zone 4. The other parts of the country also significantly tightened the rules. In Wales, with more than 3.1 million inhabitants, there is also a harsh closure, Scotland has banned travel to other regions. It was not yet clear whether Northern Ireland would also introduce new measures. There, due to the high number of new infections, ambulances had recently jammed in front of emergency rooms, and ambulances from neighboring EU state Ireland helped.
Britain is one of the countries most affected in Europe by the Crown crisis. On Saturday, the number of infections rose by around 27,000 to a total of more than two million. Around 83,000 people have so far died with or from the Covid-19 lung disease. The government had started mass vaccination a good ten days ago. So far, about 350,000 people across the country have received funding from Mainz-based pharmaceutical company Biontech and its US partner Pfizer, as Johnson said.
“More infections lead to more mutations”
SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach warned of mutations in the corona virus. “Mutations are very likely to increase the risk of infection,” he told the German publishing network (RND, Sonntag). “That is another reason why the second wave cannot be that strong. The more infections you allow, the more likely it is that even more dangerous mutations will occur. It is a kind of vicious cycle: more infections lead to more opportunities for mutations, and therefore more mutations. These, in turn, lead to more infections. So it goes on and on. “
