Updated: 8:37 AM December 30, 2020 Independent SAGE is advising a third national lockdown to control the new strain of Covid-19 which has led to a rise in cases in the south and east of England - Credit: Sarah Lucy Brown Scientific leaders have called for a third national lockdown as coronavirus infections, accelerated by the new variant, begin to surpass the first peak. Independent SAGE has advised that Tier 4 restrictions will not be enough to contain the new strain of Covid-19, which is not thought to cause more severe disease but has greater infectiousness. The group said: "Modellers from the SAGE modelling subgroup estimate that even under national Tier 4, another 100,000 people could die before the end of June 2021. In that scenario, hundreds of thousands of others would go on to suffer long term effects from Covid-19 and the NHS would be brought to its knees. The government needs to act now to prevent this catastrophe."