England at risk of a third wave of Covid in the new year, says Raab | World News

England is at risk of suffering a third wave of coronavirus in the new year if the right balance in restrictions is not struck, Dominic Raab warned, as Downing Street faces an irate rebellion from Conservative MPs in its beefed-up tiers.

The foreign secretary also refused to rule out the possibility of a third national shutdown next year. The Commons will vote Tuesday on the approval of the three-tier system to replace the national blockade.

Boris Johnson wrote to Tory MPs on Saturday in an attempt to prevent a possible rebellion, saying that the new regulations will have a “sunset” clause, meaning they will end on February 3, will be reviewed every fortnight until then and only They will continue with approval of the deputies.

Further analysis of the economic, social and health impacts of Covid and the measures taken to suppress them will also be released ahead of Tuesday’s vote, Johnson said.

When asked if the country could face a third wave in January and February if the process doesn’t work and infection rates rise again, Raab told BBC One’s The Andrew Marr on Sunday: “Well, there is a risk that that happens if we don’t get the balance right, but so far the R level is going down, and that’s really important. And that’s why we started with the tiered approach, more restrictive than some people would like before. “

Pressed on whether there could be another national lockdown early next year if the government doesn’t get the behavior it wants from the people now and over Christmas, Raab said: “We are doing everything we can to avoid that,” citing the government’s five criteria. . to assign level levels.

Explaining the government’s exit strategy from the restrictions, he added: “We go local, our goal is for this vaccine to be distributed in the spring. And the two things that are crucial are a tiered approach, from a position of strength and trust, with areas that lower the level of restrictions once it is safe and responsible to do so, and community-wide testing … We have seen in Liverpool how that can really be a force for change, now they have moved to a lower level and that is a huge credit to the authorities working with the government and frankly the tolerance and resistance of the people in that area . We need to see that on a national level, this is how we got to spring and a much better place. “

The Labor Party has yet to reveal how it will vote on the measures, although shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy told Marr: “We share the view that there need to be public restrictions.” However, he stressed that the Labor Party sought “clarity” on the new tier system and that his party’s support “was not unconditional.”

On Thursday, the government announced that nearly 99% of England’s population would enter the top two tiers when measures go into effect on December 2, where stricter restrictions include a ban on indoor mixing between households unless support bubbles exist. There is outrage among Conservative MPs who argue that the new system is too straightforward, grouping entire counties or areas into a single level when there are localized distinctions in the prevalence of the virus.

When asked if the government was thinking of dividing the regions into smaller areas so that restrictions could be lifted earlier, Raab told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “Well, we will have a review every two weeks and of course there will be. , I’m sure, debating this week about it. “We always look at all things, but the problem is … you have to get the geographic size effective enough not to find the smallest enclaves of lower-level viruses shooting up because they are not subject to the restrictions in the higher-level areas. that surround them “.