UK health secretary says new COVID mutation is âout of controlâ By Kitty Donaldson Bloomberg,Updated December 20, 2020, 5:59 a.m. Email to a Friend Britain's Health Secretary Matt Hancock left 10 Downing Street, in London, Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020.Alberto Pezzali/Associated Press U.K. Health Secretary Matt Hancock warned the new mutant strain of the coronavirus is âout of controlâ and suggested parts of England will be stuck in the new highest tier of restrictions until a vaccine is rolled out. More than 16 million Britons are now required to stay at home as a lockdown came into force Sunday in London and southeast England and the government scrapped plans to relax rules on socializing at Christmas in an attempt to control the fast-spreading new variant of the virus.