New Coronavirus strain could be 70% more transmissible

Britain’s health minister warned Sunday that a strict lockdown imposed on London and southeast England may last for months because a new strain of the coronavirus was “out of control”.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Saturday that millions must cancel Christmas plans and stay at home from Sunday morning because the new strain was spreading far more quickly.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock warned that the strict measures that affect almost a third of England’s population could stay in place until the virus vaccine is fully rolled out.

“We acted very quickly and decisively,” Hancock told Sky News, justifying the “stay at home” order, ban on family gatherings over Christmas and closure of non-essential shops.

“Unfortunately the new strain was out of control. We have got to get it under control.”

Around 16.4 million people entered the strictest “tier four” measures from Sunday, or 31 percent of England’s population.

They are not allowed to hold family gatherings for Christmas, while in the rest of the country a limited number of households are allowed to mix on Christmas Day only, rather than the five days originally proposed.

Hancock said the situation was “deadly serious”.

“It’s going to be very difficult to keep it under control until we have the vaccine rolled out,” he said, adding: “This is what we face over the next couple of months.”

The UK hopes to reach a figure of half a million vaccinations over the weekend, the health minister said.

London’s Metropolitan Police said it would take action against those who “make reckless decisions that risk lives”.

Other UK regions also tightened their anti-virus measures in response.

Wales introduced a strict lockdown from Sunday, while Scotland banned travel to and from other UK regions for Christmas and announced it will double its police presence along the English border.

Both Scotland and Northern Ireland are to enter fresh lockdowns on December 26. Northern Ireland was to introduce additional measures on Sunday.

Scientists first discovered the new variant in a patient in September, Susan Hopkins of Public Health England told Sky News.

She said that scientists in November found the new strain was behind a cluster of cases in Kent which spread into London and Essex and informed the government on December 11.

Public Health England then again notified the government on Friday when modelling revealed the full seriousness of the new strain, she said.

She confirmed the figure given by Johnson that the new virus strain could be 70 percent more transmissible while saying this was an initial figure.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Kashmir Monitor staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)