IN A BID to halt the spread of a new strain of coronavirus Wokingham borough, as well as London and parts of the South East, will face new Tier 4 restrictions, to come into effect from tomorrow.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the decision at a press conference held in Downing Street on Saturday, December 19.
Under the measures, non-essential shops and beauty salons will have to close and people should work from home where they can. Do not leave Tier 4 for overnight stays.
Religious services will be permitted, and the bubble arrangements are unaffected as are arrangements for separated families.
“We will introduce new restrictions in the most active areas, specifically those parts of London, the southeast and the East of England which are currently in tier three,” Mr Johnson said.
“These areas will enter a new tier four, which will be broadly equivalent to the national restrictions which are in place in England in November. That means residents in those areas must stay at home.
“Apart from limited exemption set out in law, non-essential retail, indoor gyms and leisure facilities and personal care services must close.
“People must work from home if they can, but they travel to work if this is not possible.
“People should not enter or leave tier four areas in Tier four residents must not stay overnight away from home.
“Individuals can only meet one person from another household in an outdoor public space.
“Unlike the November national restrictions, communal worship can continue to take place in Tier four areas.
“And these measures will take effect from tomorrow morning.”
Travel for the nation is being restricted: those in Tier four areas will not be permitted to travel abroad, apart from limited exceptions such as for work purposes, while those in Tiers 1-3 are being asked to stay local.
As the changes come into effect days before Christmas Day, the Government has had to make changes to the plans.
“As prime minister, it’s my duty to take difficult decisions to do what is right to protect the people of this country,” Mr Johnson said.
“Given the evidence we have on this new variant of the virus the potential risk it poses. It is with a very heavy heart I must tell you we cannot continue with Christmas as planned.
“In England, those living in Tier 4 should not mix with anyone outside their own household at Christmas, though support bubbles will remain in place for those particular risk of loneliness or isolation.
“Across the rest of the country, the Christmas rules allowing up to three households to meet will not be limited to Christmas Day only, rather than the five days as previously settled.”
There will be no relaxation for New Year’s Eve.
“I know how much emotion people invest in this time of year, and how important it is, for instance, for grandparents to see their grandchildren, for families to be together,” he said.
“I know how disappointing this will be. But we have said throughout this pandemic, that we still we will be guided by the science.
“When the science changes, we must change our response.
“When the virus changes its method of attack, we must change our method of defence.
“And as your prime minister, I sincerely believe there is no alternative open to me. Without action, the evidence suggests that infections would soar hospitals would become overwhelmed and many 1000s more would lose their lives.”
Mr Johnson said that the new strain of the virus was spreading more rapidly in London, the South east and East of England. Government scientists had spent the past three days analysing the data.
“(The new strain) does appear to be passed on more easily,” he said, adding that it could increase the R rate by 0.4, and appeared to be 70% more transmittable than the previous strain.
“We have to act on information as we have it,” he said.
“There is still much we don’t know, there is no evidence to suggest that it’s more lethal or the vaccine is any less effective against it.
“We must act now.”
The new Tier 4 restrictions come just days after Mr Johnson told the House of Commons that he didn’t want to cancel the nation’s plans for Christmas. However, a day later health secretary Matt Hancock warned the chamber that a new ‘mutant’ strain of Covid-19 had been discovered as he placed Berkshire in to Tier 3, rather than Tier 2 where we had been since the start of the month.
The mutation is normal with any such virus and is why so many of us fight off numerous colds across the course of the year. But there are fears that this new strain of Covid-19 spreads faster than the existing one.
Coronavirus cases have been rising rapidly in recent weeks across Berkshire. Earlier this week, Wokingham borough recorded the highest number of daily positive tests, and the current rate is 206.9 people per 100,000.
Chief medical officer for England, Chris Whitty, said: “As a result of the rapid spread of the new variant, preliminary modelling data and rapidly rising incidence rates in the South East, the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) now consider that the new strain can spread more quickly.
“We have alerted the World Health Organisation and are continuing to analyse the available data to improve our understanding.”
He added that there was no evidence to suggest the new strain causes more deaths of affects vaccines and treatments, but this is being researched to be sure.
“Given this latest development it is now more vital than ever that the public continue to take action in their area to reduce transmission,” he added.
