LONDON (UK) – The government on Wednesday said vast swathes of England would be placed under the strictest pandemic curbs in the wake of a highly infectious strain of the coronavirus sweeping across the country, bringing the number of infections to a record level.
So far, the country has reported as many as 40,000 new cases of the mutated variant of the virus, which experts say could be 70% more transmissible than the original. This will cause hospital admissions to soar.
The number of fatalities is 744, the highest in the country since April.
Health Minister Matt Hancock said in a media briefing: “Against this backdrop of rising infections, rising hospitalisations and rising numbers of people dying from coronavirus, it is absolutely vital that we act. We simply cannot have the kind of Christmas that we all yearn for.”
Tight social curbs were implemented in London, southeast England and Wales on Saturday and plans to ease restrictions during Christmas in the country were scaled back or dropped.
From Dec. 26, many more parts of southern England would be also be brought under the tightest level of curbs, said the health minister. Already, 14 million people are under Tier 4 curbs. Other places in the country which are under lower tiers are also likely to be placed under tighter restrictions.
The devolved governments in Scotland and Northern Ireland announced that everyone would be placed under the tightest restrictions after Christmas.
According to Hancock, there are 1,909 coronavirus hospital admissions a day on an average, with 18,943 people currently in hospital.
