With a mutant variant of coronavirus now spreading throughout the UK, people have been warned that more areas of England are ‘likely’ to see restrictions increased, rather than relaxed. So is it time for another national lockdown?
The chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance has said more restrictions may be needed because cases of a mutant strain of Covid were now appearing “everywhere”.
Those living in London and the south east have already been plunged into strict restrictions with the majority of the rest of England escaping the strictest Tier 4 rules, but this is unlikely to remain the case as Sir Patrick has indicated a further lockdown may be needed in wider areas of England, particularly as Christmas mixing may result in an increased spread of cases.
Latest government data shows for the seven days up to December 16th, of the 315 local areas in England, 285 (90%) have seen a rise in coronavirus case rates with just 29 (9%) seeing a fall. There is also one area that remains unchanged.
Swindon’s seven-day rolling average case rate, upto December 21st, is 172 per 100,000, a rise of nearly 400 new cases in the past 7-days.
So the question remains, with Wales’ tough restrictions will only be eased for Christmas Day before being reimposed and Scotland and Northern Ireland have already announced new lockdowns from Boxing Day, surely England will follow suit and it is a matter of when it is announced rather than will it happen?
