Name: UK new coronavirus variant “out of control” as countries announce travel bans - BBC News
Uploaded: 2020-12-21T18:30:12.000Z
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18 million people in England, and all three million who live in Wales have seen extra covert restrictions come into force.

Today, as minister said, a new variant of coronavirus is out of control in England.

Areas within the new Tier four include London, Kent and most of Essex.

Non essential shops, as well as gyms and hairdressers, have closed.

The festive rules have changed in the rest of England to bubbles will now be allowed to meet only on Christmas Day.

Wales is new lock down restrictions willies just for Christmas Day.

Scotland will also allow bubbles only on the 25th on the mainland will then go into the highest level of restrictions from Boxing Day.

That is also when Northern Ireland begins its previously announced new lock down Well.

Tonight, several countries are responding to the new variant of the virus by suspending travel from the UK, including freight heading to France.

Our first report is from our political correspondent Nick Eardley.

Water difference a day can make London's Oxford Street, normally one of the busiest for shopping in Europe, deserted today.

His parts of England entered a new lock down and millions more faced up to a significantly skilled back Christmas.

I was pinning all of my hopes on this moment now to get home for Christmas.

People like McKayla McCann, who works as an occupational therapist and sorry now, can't get home to Northern Ireland.

It just seems like it's It's just a bit truly.

It's just really difficult Thio except and I feel like like myself.

My resilience has sort of depleted you through the year, and I think this is just one like final kick.

The government said it was forced to act because of a new variant of the virus that's thought to spread much quicker.

And this news about the new variant has been a, um, incredibly difficult end toe, frankly, an awful year.

Whales entered lock down again at midnight in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

New restrictions air coming just after Christmas and you tear four restrictions mean in London, the southeast and east of England, people are being urged to stay at home.

We don't know how long this these measures are going to be in place.

It may be for some time until we can get the vaccine going.

It all feels very different toe Wednesday when the four nations agreed that there would still be a relax ation off the law over Christmas.

But ministers here say they were given new evidence on Friday about how the new variant off the virus spread on that they had to act quickly.

How could the government allow people to go on as they were?

Labour's leader this morning said that the prime minister had waited until the 11th hour because he was reluctant to make an unpopular decision.

England, Scotland and labor run wheels all too pretty drastic action yesterday after being briefed by the experts.

So what makes you think in terms of this new variant that the government should have acted sooner?

To put all of this on the new variant is wrong.

The infection was out of control and that's why the government and the prime minister should have grasped this instead of flippantly on Wednesday, simply saying, Have a merry little Christmas it was obvious that the indicators were all in the wrong direction.

The government says that's wrong, that when the data changed, their approach had to as well.

But for many the last couple of days, in a heartbreaking end, so what's already being a uniquely difficult year?

There has been another sharp increase in the number of positive cases reported today nearly 36,000 almost double the level reported last week.

And it's exactly figures like that the ministers were pointed to see.

That's why they had to make this decision.

Ultimately, Boris Johnson is decided that throw the political flack he may take from Labor, who say he acted too slow from some in his own party who say that he's gone too far, that that's worth it because of the scale of the emergency Nick Eardley at Westminster.

Thank you very much, we'll The latest developments have sparked bans on travel from the UK into several countries, including France, which is barring arrivals by air, sea, rail, all road, including freight.

Germany, Italy and the Netherlands Andi Island are also restricting travel.

Here's Our transport correspondent Caroline Davies this weekend has already seen queues of Lorries waiting at Dover.

Today's news that France has banned all forms of transport from the UK for 48 hours from midnight, including goods being transported as freight, has many worried this will get much worse.

This is an absolute hammer blow after all the cues that we've had a ports in the last week caused by Brexit stockpiling on, of course, the Christmas rush.

So there's really confusion really uncertainty in the industry tonight.

Are there other routes that thes goods could be taken into in a different part of Europe?

Instead, there are other routes, other sea routes, other ports to other parts of Europe that can be used.

But they are a very long way round compared to the short straits of Dover Calais on, Really, it's not a great alternative for where we are now.

With just a few days to Christmas, the prime minister will chair a Cobra meeting tomorrow to discuss the situation.

The Eurotunnel closed its Folkston terminal at 10 p.m. This evening.

The port of Dover has closed toe all traffic, leaving the UK, while France is currently the only country to have imposed restrictions on freight.

Many other European countries have placed bands on British passengers coming into the UK, including Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands and Belgium.

Concerned about spreading the new strain of the virus live from Manchester in the UK, some passengers were still boarding trains from London to Manchester this afternoon despite the fact that rules against leaving Tier four came in last night other than for legally permitted reasons.

The British Transport police have said that there will be MAWR officers at major transport hubs on that officers will only use enforcement if absolutely necessary.

The police have said they will double their presence in the border areas, but that it wasn't appropriate for officers to establish checkpoints or roadblocks.

Yesterday's announcement has resulted in Christmas plans being upended across the country, not least those of businesses thrown into doubt at the U.

K's border in the final few days before Christmas.

The French action has caused the port of Dover Andi, also Folkston to be closing toa outgoing traffic from now for the next 48 hours, our business editor, Simon Jack, is here with me in the studio.

There was already disruption at the ports.

Tonight there will be meetings with the Department of Transport, the Foreign Office on the home Office, and tomorrow morning the prime minister will chair a meeting of the Cobra Group to assess the situation.

As for business, we're getting Ah, lot of different reaction hauliers.

They're telling me that although inbound traffic is still inbound, freight can still come in.

If they can't get out again for 48 hours.

The food and Drink Federation says this has the potential to cause serious disruption to UK Christmas fresh food supplies.

However, the British retail consultant represents the supermarkets has a more measured tone.

They're saying retailers have stocked up on goods ahead of Christmas, which should prevent immediate problems.

Warehouses are bulging with food at this particular time, so now I was down in Dover myself on Thursday and there were mile tailbacks 10 to 20 miles long.

Because you have this disruption of stuff coming out of China, you've got a bit of breaks, pre Brexit stockpiling.

And you've got that busy Christmas period is one holier chief said to me say, just when you thought you couldn't get any worse, it does get worse.

So some serious disruption in prospect here.

And of course, this is 10 days before the UK goes into the rather unknown period where we don't know what we're preparing for.

Um, very testing times ahead, Simon, Thank you.

Will be getting an update on the Brexit talks in Brussels in a few minutes time.

The latest government figures on coronavirus show that there were 35,928 new infections recorded in the latest 24 hour period, which means an average number of 27,249 new cases per day.

In the last week, there were 1821 people admitted to hospital on average each day.

In the week to last Wednesday, 326 deaths have been reported for the last 24 hours.

That's people who died within 28 days off a positive covert 19 test.

It means an average off 462 deaths per day in the past week on the total number of UK deaths is now 67,401.

The sharply increased number of new cases is being linked to the new variant of covert being mawr Infectious Concerns over this have led to the widespread travel restrictions announced this evening.

Our health correspondent, Catherine Burns reports.

Now on what we know about the mutation on how it happened since the pandemic started.

We've learned a lot about coronavirus, but it's been learning about us to its had practice at dealing with our immune systems and has developed an extra way of fighting us.