London shifts to tightest restrictions
New variant of COVID detected as cases spike
LONDON — London and its surrounding areas will be placed under Britain’s highest level of coronavirus restrictions beginning Wednesday as infections rise rapidly in the capital, the health secretary said Monday, adding that a new variant of the virus might be to blame for the spread.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the government must take swift action after seeing “very sharp, exponential rises” in Greater London and nearby Kent and Essex. He said in some areas cases are doubling every seven days.
The surge of COVID-19 cases in southern England might be associated with a new strain of coronavirus, Hancock told lawmakers. He said officials are assessing the new version but stressed there was nothing to suggest it was more likely to cause serious disease or that it wouldn’t respond to a vaccine.
“We’ve currently identified over 1,000 cases with this variant predominantly in the south of England, although cases have been identified in nearly 60 different local authority areas,” he said. Initial analysis suggests that the new version is growing faster than existing versions, he added.
“The medical advice that we have is that it is highly unlikely that this new variant will impinge the vaccine and the impact of the vaccine,” he said.
Britain started vaccinating people over age 80 and health care workers Dec. 8 with the Pfizer-biontech vaccine, and its regulators are also evaluating other vaccines, including one developed by Astrazeneca and Oxford University. Thousands have been vaccinated, but they must return in 21 days for a second shot. The National Health Service said hundreds of medical clinics across England were getting vaccine deliveries Monday and would be offering shots by Tuesday.
Under tier-three restrictions, the toughest level in England’s three-tier system, people can’t socialize indoors, and bars, pubs and restaurants must close except for takeout. People are told to minimize traveling within or to the area, and Hancock said people shouldn’t take trips into central London to do Christmas shopping.
London is currently in tier two, or high alert, which applies to most of England.
In November, the capital was among the areas with the lowest regional infection rates in England, but some areas in and around London have now become virus hot spots.
Dr. Michael Ryan, the chief of emergencies for the World Health
Organization, said the U.N. health agency was aware of the new strain reported in the U.K. and was working with British and other health authorities to assess if the reported mutations might change how the virus is behaving.
In other developments:
■ Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte imposed a tough new fiveweek nationwide lockdown Monday, saying schools, nonessential shops, museums and gyms will close down at midnight until Jan. 19.
■ Germany’s health minister demanded that the European Union’s regulatory agency work faster to approve a coronavirus vaccine and bring an end to the suffering on the continent, but the head of the agency said Monday that his team is already working “around the clock.” Other German officials suggested that residents should forgo Christmas shopping and attend Christmas Mass online as a new lockdown loomed that will close schools and most stores.
■ Restaurant and bar owners, hoteliers, waitresses, and other employers and workers from France’s world-famous catering and service industries have protested in Paris for the right to work again during the pandemic. The government has indicated that restaurants and bars might be allowed to reopen on Jan. 20 if infections don’t surge anew.