TIER 4 FOR 4 MONTHS
European countries close borders with UK Freight from France is stopped for 48 hours
MILLIONS of people could face tough Tier 4 restrictions for months amid fears the new Covid strain is spiralling out of control.
Some experts believe it could be April before enough people have been vaccinated for anything like normal life to resume.
Public health chiefs warned the mutation has already spread to every part of the country from the South East where cases are highest.
France has stopped all freight traffic for 48 hours which could hit supply chains in the run-up to Christmas.
Official figures showed another 35,928 Covid cases in the UK yesterday – the highest to date and almost double the amount last Sunday.
Public Health England’s medical director Dr Yvonne Doyle said: “This sharp and sudden increase is of serious concern.”
Most new cases were concentrated in the South East but public health chiefs said it was too early to say if they were linked to the new strain. It came as another 326 people died from the disease, taking the total to 67,401.
The NHS is treating almost as many Covid patients as at the peak of the first wave in April.
The new strain is thought to be 70% more infectious, and small numbers of cases have been found in the North, the Midlands and in Wales.
Christmas plans were plunged into disarray after the Tories belatedly tried to get the disease under control. On Saturday Boris Johnson said 18 million people would go into immediate lockdown while Christmas festivities would be cut from five days to one for everyone y else. Labour le ad er Keir Starmer said the PM should apologise for failing to act earlier to curb the spread of the virus.
He added alarm bells were“ringing for weeks” but the PM – who said last week it would be “inhuman” to cancel Christmas – had failed to act. Mr Starmer said: “It is an act of gross negligence by a Prime Minister who, once again, has been caught behind the curve.
“At the heart of the problem here is a Prime Minister who simply doesn’t want to be unpopular and therefore won’t take the tough decisions that are necessary until he is forced into them at the 11th hour.
“We can’t go on like that. It is very important the Prime Minister does apologise to people for his handling of this episode of the pandemic.”
High streets across the South East were empty yesterday while supermarkets faced a deluge of people adapting to changed plans. A YouGov
poll shows the public overwhelmingly supports the new Tier 4 (by 74% to 17%), and Christmas restrictions, by 67% to 25%. But the vast majority – 61% to 33% – think the Government has handled the changes badly.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said ministers had to act when presented with the scientific evidence.
He added: “We don’t know how long these measures are going to be in place. It may be for some time until we can get the vaccine going.” Yet he claimed it was “not inevitable” there would be a third national lockdown after Christmas.
Doctors’ leaders warned that tough restrictions may be in place until April. Dr Chaand Nagpaul, who chairs the British Medical Association, said: “It will take three to four months for enough of the population to be vaccinated.”
The Government has enraged its own MPs. Sir Charles Walker, vicechairman of the Tory backbench 1922 Committee, said he believed ministers were aware before Friday they would be bringing in tough new controls.
He said: “The Government, in my view, knew on Thursday, possibly Wednesday, they [would] pull the plug on Christmas but waited till Parliament had [ broken up].
That, on top of everything else, is a resigning matter. I’m not asking for the Government to collapse, I’m asking for a secretary of state to take responsibility.”
Ministers claim they were only given detailed figures linking soaring rates to the new strain on Friday – despite telling MPs of a possible link days earlier.
Dr Nagpaul said: “Last Wednesday, before the new variant was announced, it was obvious the infection was spreading at a dangerous level, the NHS was in a dangerous state, and again, the science wasn’t followed...
“We didn’t need the new variant to reverse this rule, and the public could have been given greater notice.”
Government adviser Dr Michael Tildesley, who sits on the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling, said: “The timing of it being left until the 11th hour is going to frustrate a lot of people so I’m finding myself today quite frustrated with the way this has been handled.”
Age UK has urged people to rally round elderly neighbours who will now be alone at Christmas due to the “sudden change in plans”.
France joined Germany, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands in announcing it is temporarily closing borders with the UK because of the new strain.
Movement from the UK to France was due to end at midnight on Sunday for 48 hours. Freight from France will be stopped. The Eurostar to France was halted last night and the Port of Dover suspended cross Channel links.