The UK government has decided to place London under the highest level of coronavirus restrictions from Wednesday (December 16) due to a sudden spike in COVID-19 cases in the city as a new variant of coronavirus has been identified which is responsible for the "faster spread" of the deadly viral disease.
British Health Secretary Matt Hancock told MPs in the House of Commons that "swift and decisive action" was needed to keep things under control in London and surrounding areas.
The tier-3 restrictions announced by British government means that London will be placed under a near-complete lockdown.
"A new variant of coronavirus has been identified in the UK, which may be associated with the fastest spread in the southeast of England," said Hancock in Parliament.
"We do not know the extent to which this is because of the new variant but no matter its cause, we have to take swift and decisive action which unfortunately is absolutely essential to control this deadly disease while the vaccine is rolled out?We must act now to shift the curve? because when the virus moves quickly, we must move quickly too," he added.
According to Hancock, over 1,000 cases are identified with the new deadly variant. Most of the cases were registered in the south of England. "Cases have been identified in nearly 60 different local authority areas and numbers are increasing rapidly. Similar variants have been identified in other countries over the last few months," Hancock said.
Hancock told in the Parliament that the World Health Organisation has been notified about the new variant of coronavirus.
Referring to the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine rollout which started in UK few days ago, Hancock said that thanks to science 'help is on its way', but 'this isn't over yet'.
