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Boris Johnson will address the nation in a press conference at 4 p.m. following an emergency Cabinet meeting as fears of tighter restrictions mount.
Ministers held a last minute meeting at 1pm today with reports claiming they are considering a travel ban on London and Kent.
The prime minister held emergency talks last night in which ministers are understood to have discussed how to contain the newly discovered mutant strain of coronavirus.
The scientists warned that the new strain, which is said to be spreading rapidly in the two areas, may be 50% more contagious than any previously detected.
England’s chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, has alerted the World Health Organization but said “ there is no current evidence to suggest that the new strain causes a higher death rate or affects vaccines and treatments, although urgent work is being done to confirm it. ” .
The prime minister has refused to rule out a third lockdown, saying infection rates have risen “a lot” in recent weeks.
On a visit to Greater Manchester, the Conservative leader was asked whether England would follow Northern Ireland and Wales in imposing tough restrictions after the holiday period.
He replied: ‘We have high hopes that we can avoid something like that. “But the reality is that infection rates have increased a lot in recent weeks.”
The government is also said to be reflecting on introducing new “level four” restrictions after Christmas.
SAGE’s advisory group is expected to meet Monday to work on recommendations on how the level three restrictions could be tightened.
People in parts of England with high infection rates may be ordered to ‘stay home’, schools could also be closed for another week and non-essential shops could close at ‘level four’, according to reports.
A Whitehall official told The Times: ‘There are reasons to go beyond level three and it is getting stronger.
‘[That could mean] closing non-essential retail orders that stay at home. That would have to be actively considered in a conversation with the local authority. ‘
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