London returns to strict lockdown, following a sharp rise in coronavirus cases
By
Emma Reynolds, CNN
enablePagination: false
endIndex:
(CNN) London will return to a strict lockdown this week, after coronavirus cases soared in the British capital, UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Monday.
Hancock said London will be moved from England s Tier 2 high alert local restrictions to the very high Tier 3 on Wednesday morning at 12:00 a.m., along with nearby areas in south and west Essex, and south Hertfordshire.
Under the highest restriction level, all hospitality venues including pubs, cafes and restaurants will close except for takeout and delivery.
People in Scotland could be faced with tougher lockdown restrictions following news of a discovery of a new variant of coronavirus in the UK. Nicola Sturgeon described the news of the new strain as “clearly a potentially concerning development” in the fight against Covid. Yesterday, Uk Government Health Secretary Matt Hancock revealed cases involving the new variant are “increasing rapidly”, with initial analysis suggesting that it is growing faster than the existing variants. Around 1000 cases have so far been identified of the new strain, predominantly in the south of England. Commenting on the news, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon confirmed that Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer Dr Gregor Smith had briefed her on the news, and it is being closely monitored.
New coronavirus strain in Scotland - Everything you need to know
Nine cases of the new variant have been discovered in Scotland - should we be concerned about this development?
Updated
The video will auto-play soon8Cancel
Play now
Join thousands of others in getting the stories that matter to you sent straight to your inbox.Invalid EmailSomething went wrong, please try again later.
Subscribe
When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Your information will be used in accordance with ourPrivacy Notice.
Thank you for subscribingWe have more newslettersShow meSee ourprivacy notice
People in Scotland could be faced with tougher lockdown restrictions following news of a discovery of a new variant of coronavirus in the UK. Nicola Sturgeon described the news of the new strain as “clearly a potentially concerning development” in the fight against Covid. Yesterday, Uk Government Health Secretary Matt Hancock revealed cases involving the new variant are “increasing rapidly”, with initial analysis suggesting that it is growing faster than the existing variants. Around 1000 cases have so far been identified of the new strain, predominantly in the south of England. Commenting on the news, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon confirmed that Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer Dr Gregor Smith had briefed her on the news, and it is being closely monitored.
Scientists in the UK are investigating a new coronavirus variant to figure out if it s contributing to a faster spread of COVID-19 in certain parts of the country. According to Public Health England (PHE), 1,108 cases with this new variant named VUI – 202012/01 as it s the first variant under investigation in December had been identified as of December 13. The new coronavirus variant: how widespread is it?
On December 14, UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said at least 60 different local authorities, mainly in the South and East of England, had recorded COVID-19 infections caused by the new variant, reported the BBC.
The scientists tracking the genetics of the virus, from the COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) Consortium, released a statement on December 14 explaining that this variant has a large number of mutations. Of particular interest to the scientists is the N501Y mutation, which is found in the Spike protein, where the coronavirus binds with the rece