Speaking on Sky News this morning whether or not the we could see another National lockdown imposed, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the government does not “rule anything out” to control the spread of coronavirus.
He said: “We don’t rule anything out, and we’ve shown repeatedly that we will look at the public health advice and we will take the public health advice in terms of what is needed to control the spread of the disease.
“This new variant is much easier to catch, it is much more transmissible, and we’re now seeing the effect of that in lots of different parts of the country, unfortunately.
“And it means that whereas the old Tier 3 was able to contain the old variant, that is proving increasingly difficult in all parts of the country.”
When asked whether he believes the current tier system is working he said: “It is down to people’s behaviour, frankly.
“What matters is, yes of course, the rules that we put in place, but it is also about how people act.
“And frankly what I would say is this – it is critical that everybody in the country does all that they can to reduce the spread of the virus.”
This comes after calls from Labour Leader Keir Starmer urged the government to act now saying: “We can’t allow the Prime Minister to use up the next two or three weeks and then bring in a national lockdown which is inevitable.
“Do it now. That’s the necessary first step to get the virus back under control.”
