How a turbulent week in the UK’s Covid-19 battle unfolded
A new mutant coronavirus strain sees tighter safety restrictions, cancelled Christmas plans and travel bans from many countries to the UK.
The new mutant strain of coronavirus has led to a turbulent week – and a somewhat dampened festive season – in the UK.
It has triggered tighter restrictions, caused the cancellation of Christmas plans for millions of people and the temporary shutdown of many travel and trade routes from the UK.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has held crisis talks with ministers after France banned lorries carrying freight from the UK, and countries around the world blocked flights.
Here are some of the key events of the past week:
– December 14
Health Secretary Matt Hancock tells MPs a new strain of coronavirus has been identified in southern England, with the number of cases involving the new variant “increasing rapidly”.
Tougher restrictions are imposed on London and parts of Essex and Hertfordshire following “very sharp, exponential rises” in cases.
– December 17
Mr Hancock announces that Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Peterborough, Hertfordshire, Surrey (with the exception of Waverley), Hastings and Rother (on the Kent border of East Sussex), and Portsmouth, Gosport and Havant in Hampshire will all move into Tier 3 from December 19 – meaning a total of 38 million people and 68% of the population of England will be living under the toughest restrictions.
– December 19
Prime Minister Boris Johnson cancels Christmas for almost 18 million people across London and eastern and south-east England by moving them into a newly-created Tier 4 for two weeks – effectively returning to the lockdown rules of November – after scientists warn of the rapid spread of the new variant VUI 202012/01.
In the rest of England, the planned Christmas easing of the restrictions – allowing three households to meet over the festive period – will be severely curtailed to apply to Christmas Day only. The move is mirrored by the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales.
The total number of lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK passes two million since the outbreak began, according to the Government’s dashboard.
– December 20
Mr Johnson timetables a meeting of the Government’s Cobra civil contingencies committee on December 21 to ensure a steady flow of freight into and out of the UK after European countries halt flights and ferry crossings from the UK due to fears about the mutant strain.
Franc says it is banning all passenger and cargo traffic from Britain for 48 hours.
Mr Hancock warns that tough new Covid controls could be in place for months, as he admits the mutant new strain of the virus was running “out of control”.
Welsh health minister Vaughan Gething says it was a factor in the rapid rise of cases there, while Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer says the alarm bells had been “ringing for weeks” and calls on Mr Johnson to apologise to the country for failing to act sooner.
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon calls for an extension to the Brexit transition period due to end on December 31 saying the new faster-spreading coronavirus strain means the UK now faces a “profoundly serious situation”.
– December 21
A growing list of countries, including Spain, India and Hong Kong, temporarily ban UK flights because of fears about the spread of a new variant of coronavirus.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps says emergency measures are being put in place to cope with a backlog of lorries heading for the Channel ports.
Tougher coronavirus restrictions will be needed across the country with cases of the mutant coronavirus strain appearing “everywhere”, the Government’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance warns.
Despite the Tier 4 lockdown which was introduced in some areas just days earlier, he indicates that further measures may be needed in wider areas of England, particularly as Christmas mixing may result in an increased spread of cases.
Mr Johnson says that more than 500,000 people in the UK have now received their first dose of the two-part vaccine since British grandmother Margaret Keenan became the first patient in the world on December 8 to receive the Pfizer Covid-19 jab following its clinical approval.
