Britain's Health Secretary has said the new variant coronavirus is "out of control" and that he is "really worried" about how the country's health service will cope.
Matt Hancock said the UK faces an "enormous challenge" controlling the new strain after scientists found it was able to spread more rapidly.
"It is out of control and we need to bring it under control," he told BBC1's The Andrew Marr Show.
"I am really worried about the NHS. There are currently just over 18,000 in NHS hospitals with coronavirus.
"That is only just below the number there were at the first peak. It is another reason why everybody needs to follow the new rules and take that personal responsibility."
A series of strict measures to try to slow the spread of the new strain of Covid-19 have come into effect in parts of Britain.
London and much of south-east England, as well as all of Wales, have entered a new Tier 4 set of restrictions.
Movement into and out of these areas has been restricted and foreign travel for all, but work reasons is effectively banned.
Scotland has also banned all travel into and out of the country from other parts of the UK, with police doubling their presence along the border...
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Italian Foreign Minister Luigi di Maio, announcing plans to halt flights to and from Britain, said: "Our priority is to protect Italy and our compatriots."
ReplyDeleteGermany could impose restrictions on flights from the United Kingdom and South Africa - which has also detected a new coronavirus strain - a German Health Ministry said.
ReplyDeleteSpain said that in response to the moves by some of its European Union partners, it had asked the European Commission and the European Council for a coordinated community response to the new situation.
ReplyDeleteViruses change all the time. Seasonal influenza mutates every year, so it was of little surprise to scientists that variants of COVID-19 have been detected since the pandemic started.
ReplyDeleteBut in recent days, concerns have grown over a new strain identified in the United Kingdom.
In London, 62 percent of cases were due to the new variant in the week of December 9. That compares with 28 percent three weeks earlier.
DeleteScotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Twitter that cases of the mutant strain were lower in Scotland “than the rest of the UK,” but warned, “preventative action may be necessary to stop the faster-spreading strain taking hold.”
DeleteMore than 67,000 people have died of COVID-19 to date in the UK, making it one of Europe’s worst-hit along with Italy.