UK - Government expands London tier 4 lockdown tomorrow through December 30 - trains packed with people leaving - December 19, 2020

[sharon sanders]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gChJiZtCEH4&ab_channel=BloombergQuicktake:Now


Boris Johnson has announced London will be plunged into Tier 4 restrictions in a bid to curb the new variant coronavirus from spreading more rapidly.

After Health Secretary Matt Hancock confirmed a new strain of the virus had been found on Monday, Professor Chris Whitty confirmed on Saturday it could spread “more quickly.”

He said: “We have alerted the World Health Organisation and are continuing to analyse the available data to improve our understanding. There is no current evidence to suggest the new strain causes a higher mortality rate or that it affects vaccines and treatments although urgent work is underway to confirm this.”

more...

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/tier-4-rules-covid-lockdown-london-explained-b390069.html

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Queues at train stations after Tier 4 restrictions announced in London

By
April Roach
@aprilroach28
2 hours ago


Footage of packed train carriages out of London emerged on social media as many attempted to flee the capital hours before tough Tier 4 restrictions came into force.

Boris Johnson announced on Saturday that all areas currently in Tier 3 will move into new Tier 4 restrictions from tomorrow.

The shock announcement meant many were forced to cancel plans to see loved ones at Christmas, while others attempted to escape the restrictions by immediately travelling out of the city.

Travellers at St Pancras station were told that social distancing “will not be possible” due to the volume of people on board, and those that felt “uncomfortable” should not stay on the train.

Tier 4, which is now the highest possible level in the UK, effectively returns residents to the rules in place during the national lockdown.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/...ations-tier-4-covid-restrictions-b394242.html

 

[sharon sanders]

Please see:

England - New Variant of COVID19 Coronavirus. May be causing faster spread in some areas. - December 14, 2020 + Wales & Scotland + Denmark

https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum/the-pandemic-discussion-forum/892756-discussion-thread-vi-covid-19-new-coronavirus?p=901897#post901897

 

[sharon sanders]

“My short answer would be ‘please unpack it at this stage’,” he said.

Prof Whitty told a Downing Street news conference: “If they were to go with this new variant, unwittingly, to an area that has a low prevalence and starts this being seeded even more outside the high prevalence areas that would be a significant risk to the area they went to.


snip

Screening tests suggested that in the South East 43% of the virus was now the new variant, in the East of England it is 59% and in London 62%.

“Those have gone up very, very fast over the last few weeks,” he told a Downing Street news conference.

“This has really gone incredibly quickly. They are much lower in other areas of the country.”

The number of people in hospitals was also increasing in areas where the new variant was more prevalent.

“In the areas where this is very, very common you are seeing rates of increase of maybe 36% in the East of England, 34% in London and 28% in the South East.

“These are the areas which have actually had significant numbers of this new variant.”

https://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/189...e-tier-4-area/