Covid-19: Millions in England and Wales go into toughest restrictions

ujangsolih (16)in #news • 4 years ago

A stringent new Covid lockdown has come into force in London, parts of east and south-east England, and Wales.

Some 21 million people who entered new restrictions at midnight are being told to stay at home, while non-essential shops and businesses have to close.

A new tier four has been introduced in south-east England, after a new variant of coronavirus caused cases to soar.

The planned relaxation of rules for Christmas has been scrapped for those in England's new tier of restrictions.

In the rest of England, Scotland and Wales relaxed indoor mixing rules are cut from five days to Christmas Day only.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has told Sky's Sophy Ridge programme that it was "our duty to act" after being presented with "new scientific evidence" about the new variant.

He said that everyone who lives in a tier four area "must behave as if they have the virus".

Asked whether people living under the new toughest restrictions could be in those until a vaccine is rolled out, he said: "Given how much faster this new variant spreads, it is going to be very difficult to keep it under control until we have the vaccine rolled out."

Wales locks down as Christmas plans cut
What is tier four and who is in it?
Should you see your family at Christmas?
'I won't have next summer let alone next Christmas'
The tier four restrictions - similar to England's second national lockdown - applies to all areas in the South East which were in tier three, covering Kent, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Surrey (excluding Waverley), Gosport, Havant, Portsmouth, Rother and Hastings.

It also applies in London (all 32 boroughs and the City of London) and the East of England (Bedford, Central Bedford, Milton Keynes, Luton, Peterborough, Hertfordshire and Essex (excluding Colchester, Uttlesford and Tendring).
London Mayor Sadiq Khan told BBC Breakfast the "11th-hour announcement is a bitter blow" for families and businesses, saying it's the "chop-change, stop-start, that's led to so much anguish, despair, sadness and disappointment".

"I'm afraid it makes it really difficult for people like me to ask people to listen to us when we keep on changing our minds," he said.

4 years ago in #news by ujangsolih (16)

$0.00

STEEM 0.17

TRX 0.12

JST 0.028

BTC 55706.37

ETH 2969.28

USDT 1.00

SBD 2.24

Covid-19: Millions in England and Wales go into toughest restrictions

Coin Marketplace