Kent in the eye of new Covid storm

It was the last thing he wanted to do and the one thing he feared having to do most. Just days after saying that it would be inhuman to make changes to the easing of restrictions over Christmas, Boris Johnson did just that on Saturday.

The warnings over the potential for the virus variant to wreak havoc could not have been more stark.

When the government’s chief scientist Chris Whitty was asked what he would say to someone who was just about to pack their bag and travel to the area, he said his advice would be to begin unpacking. He was equally uncompromising when asked whether he would catch a train to Kent. “Only if it was absolutely necessary.”

The Prime Minister cast a downbeat figure and no wonder.

He was being forced to go back on commitments that had offered families a brief respite; a taste of normality; a chance to forget the fact that we are in the midst of a global flu pandemic.

He said he was acting with “a heavy heart” and was noticeably discomfited as he tried to fend off questions about the tougher lockdown.

There will be valid questions to ask about whether the government response has been proportionate to the threat posed by the new variant. Equally, there will, in time, be questions about whether the government failed to act when it should have done when the rate of infections in Kent began to spiral.

But for now, the priority has to be the focus on what needs to be done on the medical frontline to curb the spread of the virus in all its forms.

PM Boris Johnson