The new variant of Covid-19, which prompted the UK government to impose a Tier 4 lockdown in London and South East England and tighten restrictions for all of England during the festive season, has “got out of hand. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Sunday. .
According to a government press release, the Netherlands will ban all passenger flights from the United Kingdom from Sunday morning in order to “minimize” the risk of the new species spreading in the Netherlands. The flight ban will remain in effect until the new year.
The Dutch government said the same variant of the virus was found in the Netherlands in a sample of a case study from early December, and it is conducting further research to determine if there are other related cases.
Meanwhile, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said Belgium will block travelers from the UK for 24 hours on Monday as a “precautionary measure”, although the ban could be extended if necessary.
“As a precautionary measure, we have decided to suspend flights from the UK from midnight for a period of 24 hours, and just as important for our country, to do the same for the Eurostar (train) – because that’s actually the main way that people from the UK enter our country, “he said in a conversation with the news program” De Zevende Dag “of the VRT on Sunday morning.
Hancock said the new variety, which can spread faster than other species but is no more dangerous, needed to be controlled.
“The only way you can do that is by limiting social contact and essentially, especially in the Tier 4 areas, everyone has to act like they have the virus and that’s the way we can get it under control and keep people safe. ”he said on Sunday.
Heavy coronavirus restrictions
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the news on Saturday that London and much of the South and East of England, where cases are rising, would undergo Tier 4 restrictions similar to the lockdown seen in the spring – just days after reiterating his promise to ease the rules over the Christmas season.
Johnson outlined that in Tier 4 areas with the most severe restrictions, there is no way to mingle at Christmas. In areas with lower alert levels in England, Scotland and Wales, mixing is now only permitted on Christmas Day.
In a hastily convened press conference on Saturday, Johnson said the strain of the virus appears to spread more easily, and may be up to 70% more transmissible than the earlier strain.
Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said Saturday that the new variant is responsible for 60% of infections in London, which nearly doubled in the past week.
As with other new variants or strains of Covid-19, this one has a genetic fingerprint that makes it easy to track, and it’s one that’s now common. That does not mean that the mutation has spread it more easily, nor does it necessarily mean that this variation is more dangerous.
Multiple experts in virus genetics and epidemiology note that this strain may simply be a “lucky” strain amplified due to a superspreader event; the mutation may somehow make it easier without causing more serious disease; or it could just be by chance.
Yet the government’s scientific advisory group for Covid-19 has also warned that the new species is “real cause for concern”, and called for urgent action. On Twitter, Jeremy Farrar said: “Research is underway to understand more, but now urgent action is critical. There is no part of the UK and worldwide that should not be concerned. As in many countries, the situation is vulnerable.”
Londoners are fleeing the capital after new restrictions
When asked about the timeframe of the Tier 4 restrictions, which have basically put parts of the UK back into spring lockdown, Hancock said on Sunday, “Given how much faster this new variant is spreading, it will be very difficult. to keep it under control until we roll out the vaccine. “
Hancock added what really matters “is that people don’t just follow [the new Tier 4 measures], but everyone in a Tier 4 area acts like you have the virus to stop spreading to other people. (…) We just know that you can catch this new variant more easily if a smaller amount of the virus is present. “
“All the different measures we have taken, we need more to control the spread of the new variant than to control the spread of the old variant,” he added, commenting on whether the current measures to protecting people, such as the use of masks and the 2-meter (6.5-foot) rule, was enough to protect people from the new tension.
Still, on Saturday night, Londoners boarded trains and highways as they hurried to leave the capital in anticipation of new restrictions announced by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Saturday evening at 7 p.m., there were no free seats on trains departing from various stations in the capital, London, PA Media reported. Travelers complained that they could not socially distance themselves in the rail cars.
The scenes were condemned by politicians and public health experts. London Mayor Sadiq Khan called the introduction of the restrictions “devastating” in an interview with the BBC, adding that scenes at London’s train stations “were a direct result of the chaotic way the announcement was made and the late stage of it “.
“I understand why people want to come back to see their moms, dads and older relationships, but I think it’s wrong,” he said.
Arnaud Siad and James Frater contributed to the reporting.