LONDON – Prime Minister Boris Jones, known as the fast-spreading variant of the coronavirus, made a sudden coup on Saturday and imposed a massive lockdown in London and much of southeast England.
The decision, announced by Mr Johnson following an emergency meeting of his cabinet, came after new evidence was found that the government had first found it several weeks ago in Kent, south-east of London, the prime minister said.
The new measures, which take effect at the end of Saturday night, are designed to effectively cut off the rest of the English capital and surrounding counties. The government’s crackdown on the country in March is a drastic step and reflects fears that the new method could supercharge the virus as winter approaches.
“When a virus changes the way it attacks, we should change our method of defense.” “We have to act like the information is, because this is spreading so fast now.”
Viral mutations are not uncommon, and this variety – known as VUI 202012/01 – has been found in some other countries, but some medical experts have raised alarm about its apparent infectious infection. Some argued that the government strengthened the urge to tighten social restrictions in an effort to eradicate the virus altogether.
Devi Shridhar, head of the Global Public Health Program at the University of Edinburgh, said, “Elimination is increasingly the best. “Having more viruses means more types and mutations.”
Other scientists have warned that the rapid spread of the variant does not mean it is more transmissible.
Strict new measures have been taken after cabinet ministers were told that cases in London had almost doubled in the past week, accounting for 60 per cent of the new variants.
British ministers have been told there is no evidence that the new type is more inherently more lethal than that it is more resistant to the vaccine than others, but it is significantly easier to transmit.
However, the number of cases is expected to increase rapidly, leading to more hospitalizations and casualties, and the British government said it had notified the World Health Organization about the scope of the new phase.
The new lockdown zone covers the whole of Greater London and many parts of the surrounding southeast, a densely populated area, with around 20 million people, a third of England’s population. The sanctions will last for at least two weeks and will be reviewed on December 30.
The government asked people in the region to stay home for a number of reasons, including urgent travel, medical appointments and outdoor exercise. People outside this zone were advised not to travel in it, and people living inside would not be allowed to travel outside overnight. Unnecessary shops will close, such as gyms, theaters, hairdressers and nail salons.
And, although Mr. Johnson said just a few days ago that canceling Christmas would be “inhumane,” it would have an experimental effect on the majority of the population, with new restrictions on social mixing. Plans to allow three families to meet together during the holiday will be scrapped in London and the Southeast, with no household mix allowed.
Three homes in other parts of the country will be allowed to assemble, but only on Christmas day, and not for the once-extended extended five-day period.
The announcement made on Saturday is admissible that England’s current system of controls, under which the country was divided into three “levels” with different rules, is not enough to control the spread of the virus. The new area of the lockdown will create a new and tougher, fourth level.
Mr Johnson already has the legal power to tighten the rules and has no current plans to recall Parliament.
According to epidemiologists, the coronavirus has changed many times since it emerged in China in 2019. On Friday, South Africa reported that it had found a new form, which it said was a new wave of infection. It is not clear whether it is a variant similar to the one identified in Britain.
Most of these types are not significant or widespread. But as the infection progresses – and possibly, as the immune system develops, so does the pressure for pathogenesis. Some new types of the virus may be more transmissible than previous versions or lead to more serious illness.
“This is potentially serious,” Jeremy Farrer, an infectious disease specialist and director of the Wellcome Trust, said in a statement last week. “Surveillance and research must continue, and we must take the necessary steps to stay ahead of the virus.”
For weeks, Mr. Johnson has struggled to balance his response to the virus with pressure not to hurt the economy further. The government established Manchester, Liverpool and northern cities at very restrictive levels, establishing level certificates where infection rates were high. Life in London remains largely the same.
In November, as infection rates began to rise across the country, Mr. Johnson imposed a new nationwide lockdown. There was speculation in British tabloids that he would be forced to “cancel Christmas”. Instead, he promised to ease restrictions on social mixing for a period of five days around Christmas for families to gather.
But last week, amid signs that London has become a new hot spot, Mr Johnson put the capital and most of the southeast in Tier 3, the highest level of sanctions. He was sticking to his promise to give Christmas again from December 23 to December 27, as well as urging people to keep family gatherings short and small.
Mr. Johnson said last week, “Make yourself a little merry Christmas,” announcing the halfway point, Mr. Johnson said last week, “But alas this year, preferably a very small Christmas.”
With the strict bans announced on Saturday, it is advised that Christmas is still short.
