Share this Story: To fight new COVID strain, British PM Johnson reverses Christmas plans for millions
To fight new COVID strain, British PM Johnson reverses Christmas plans for millions Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed an effective lockdown on almost 18 million people in England and reversed plans to ease curbs over Christmas, saying Britain was dealing with a new coronavirus strain that is up to 70 per cent more transmissible than the original. Photo by TOBY MELVILLE / REUTERS
Article content LONDON — Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed an effective lockdown on almost 18 million people in England and reversed plans to ease curbs over Christmas, saying Britain was dealing with a new coronavirus strain that is up to 70% more transmissible than the original. Although Johnson and his scientific advisors believe vaccines will still be effective, and the new strain is not more deadly or more serious in terms of the illness caused, the prime minister said on Saturday the government had to take urgent action. We apologize, but this video has failed to load.
tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or To fight new COVID strain, British PM Johnson reverses Christmas plans for millions Back to video The number of cases in England has soared in the last two weeks because of the virus variant. Johnson tore up plans to allow three households to mix indoors for five days over the festive period, and said London and southeast England, which are currently in the highest level of a three-tier system of rules, would now be placed in a new Tier 4 level, similar to those of a recent national lockdown.
Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content “It is with a very heavy heart I must tell you we cannot continue with Christmas as planned,” Johnson told a news conference. “I sincerely believe there is no alternative open to me.” People in Tier 4, about a third of the population of England, will be required to stay at home except for essential reasons such as work, and non-essential retail will close, as will indoor leisure and entertainment. Social mixing will be limited to meeting one other person in an outdoor space. The new rules will come into effect from Saturday night at midnight. Johnson, whose initial response to the pandemic has been criticized for being too slow, had resisted calls to change plans for the Christmas relaxation, saying on Wednesday it would be “frankly inhuman” to ban it.
Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content However, those now in Tier 4 will not be allowed to mix with others over Christmas. And everyone else in England will now be allowed to see friends and family only on Christmas Day itself, Dec. 25. �?CONFUSION’ “At this time of national crisis, the British people want clear, decisive leadership,” opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer said on Twitter. “All we get from Boris Johnson is confusion and indecision.” Within minutes of Johnson’s announcement, shoppers hit the streets for a final attempt to stock up on Christmas presents and supplies. At the giant Westfield shopping center in West London, one of Europe’s largest, numbers were boosted by last-minute shoppers. “It was fairly quiet all day, then suddenly there was this mass of people,” said one sales assistant at one large department store.
Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content The UK’s other nations, whose response to the pandemic differs from that of England at times, also took action. Scotland said on Saturday it would impose a ban on travel to the rest of the United Kingdom, and the Christmas easing would be limited to just Dec. 25. All of Wales will go into Tier 4 from midnight, but two households can mix on Christmas Day. Business leaders said the government needed to provide emergency support. “Christmas was already canceled for many businesses, but even more will now suffer as a result of this last-minute decision,” said Adam Marshall, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce. �?TAKEN OFF’ Like other countries in Europe, Britain is battling to contain new waves of the virus. It reported 27,052 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, taking the total over 2 million, and 534 more deaths taking the overall official toll to more than 67,000.
Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content There has been a surge in infections sparked by the new virus strain – VUI202012/01. “This virus has taken off, it’s moving fast and it’s leading inevitably to a sharp increase in hospital admissions,” Britain’s Chief Scientific Officer Patrick Vallance said. England’s Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said the authorities had alerted the World Health Organization and were continuing to analyze the data. “There’s no evidence to suggest it is more lethal or causes more severe illness,” Johnson said. “There’s no evidence to suggest the vaccine will be any less effective against the new variant. Other countries have also reported variants of the virus. South Africa said on Friday one such strain was driving a second wave of infections there. (Additional reporting by Elizabeth Piper, William Schomberg and Yann Tessier Editing by Catherine Evans and Frances Kerry)
Share this article in your social network
Latest National Stories Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Montreal Gazette Headline News Sign up to receive daily headline news from the Montreal Gazette, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. Email Address There was an error, please provide a valid email address. By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300 Thanks for signing up! A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it please check your junk folder. The next issue of Montreal Gazette Headline News will soon be in your inbox. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again
Trending
Carte de l'Angleterre, en rouge foncée les régions les plus touchées par la seconde vague de la pandémie

Le premier ministre du Royaume-Uni, Boris Johnson, a annoncé aux résidents de Londres et du sud-est de l'Angleterre, soit environ 18 millions de personnes, qu'ils devraient se confiner à nouveau à partir de samedi le 19 décembre à minuit. La décision du gouvernement britannique s'inscrit dans un contexte où la pandémie ne cesse de gagner du terrain depuis deux semaines. Cette situation s'explique en grande partie parce qu'une nouvelle souche du coronavirus, plus contagieuse jusqu'à 70 %, se propage désormais dans la population et entraîne une augmentation importante du nombre d'hospitalisations.

Le premier ministre et ses conseillers scientifiques ont toutefois tenu à rassurer la population, à l'effet que cette nouvelle souche ne semblait pas être plus mortelle ou rendre les personnes affectées plus sérieusement malades. Ils ont aussi indiqué qu'ils croyaient que le vaccin serait toujours efficace face à cette nouvelle souche.   

Boris Johnson a expliqué aux Britanniques que cette décision avait été difficile à prendre, mais qu'il n'y avait pas d'autres options que de briser ainsi leurs plans de réunions familiales pour la période de Noël. Dans la zone visée par le confinement, les résidents devront demeurer à la maison, sauf lorsqu'ils se rendront au travail ou pour faire des achats jugés essentiels. En même temps que ces mesures restrictives imposées aux individus, tous les commerces non essentiels et les lieux de loisirs seront fermés. Lorsqu'ils ont appris les nouvelles mesures, les Britanniques se sont précipités dans les commerces qui seront bientôt fermés, afin de finir leur emplettes de Noël.               

;Voir aussi

* COVID-19 : le Royaume-Uni traite ses premier résidents avec le vaccin de Pfizer-BioNTech
* COVID-19 : le vaccin développé par Pfizer/BioNTech approuvé par le Royaume-Uni