LONDON: Britain’s capital London and parts of southeast England will be put under more stringent COVID-19 restrictions from early on Wednesday, health minister Matt Hancock said, saying the rise in cases could overwhelm hospital services.
“Over the last week we’ve seen very sharp, exponential rises in the virus across London, Kent, parts of Essex and Hertfordshire ... We therefore have decided to move greater London, the south and west of Essex ... and the south of Hertfordshire ... into tier three, which is the very high alert level,” Hancock told parliament on Monday.
“There restrictions will come into force at midnight on Wednesday morning.”
Over 1,000 cases of a new coronavirus variant have been identified in the past few days in England, predominantly in the south of the country where it could be connected to a surge in cases, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Monday.
“We have identified a new variant of coronavirus, which may be associated with the faster spread in the southeast of England,” Hancock said in a statement to parliament.
“Initial analysis suggests that this variant is growing faster than the existing variants,” he said.
“I must stress at this point that there is currently nothing to suggest that the variant is more likely to cause serious disease, and the latest clinical advice is that it’s highly unlikely that this mutation would fail to respond to a vaccine,” he added.
The main difference between the top two tiers is that bars and restaurants, which can stay open under certain conditions in tier two, must close their doors in tier three and can only operate takeaway services.
There are also additional restrictions on socialising, but workplaces and schools are to remain open.
