British Prime Minister Johnson has tightened corona measures in London and the south and east of England, as the number of infections there is rapidly increasing. This may be because a new virus variant has emerged that is easier to transmit.
“You can actually speak of a new lockdown,” says correspondent Tim de Wit. This means, among other things, that residents of the aforementioned areas may only celebrate Christmas with members of their own household and must stay at home as much as possible. Spending the night away from home is not permitted, nor is traveling abroad.
The new measures also mean that all shops, except supermarkets and pharmacies, will close and that everyone will have to work from home as much as possible.
Not more deadly
The virus is spreading rapidly, particularly in London. 62 percent of the new infections would involve infections with the new variant.
Johnson said that not all properties of this variant have yet been mapped. It is already clear that it does not make you sicker and that it does not cause more fatalities than other variants.
According to Johnson, there is no reason to believe that the vaccines that are available and yet to be released on the market will be less effective in this variant of the coronavirus.
Inhuman
Johnson had said last Wednesday that the British could meet with three different households from 23 to 27 December. He then called it “inhumane” to ban celebrating Christmas with others.
But at that time there were already clear indications that the number of infections in London was increasing, says Tim de Wit. Scientists also pointed this out to Johnson, but he refused to reverse the relaxation of the corona rules around Christmas.
This afternoon he said that the facts have changed so much in recent days that he must act. According to De Wit, the image lingers of a prime minister who shouts something one day and has to come back a few days later.
Scotland
In Scotland, a planned relaxation of the measures in the days on and around Christmas has been partly reversed. Only on Christmas Day, eight people from a maximum of three households are allowed to come together, but it is recommended to be cautious about this. Traveling to the rest of the UK is no longer allowed, within Scotland people are only allowed to travel during Christmas.