Covid-19 Updates & Info

[ti-amie]

Testing

BREAKING: Pfizer and its development partner BioNTech announced Wednesday that the Canadian government granted emergency approval for their vaccine, joining a short list of a countries that can now administer shots.

The day after the U.K.'s mass vaccination campaign began, Britain’s medical regulatory agency warned that “any person with a history of significant allergic reaction to a vaccine, medicine or food” should not receive the new Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The announcement came after two health-care workers reacted adversely to the shot.

In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration is moving ahead with its process to determine whether to approve the same Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine candidate for emergency use, after a review confirmed that it meets the standard for such authorization.

[ponchi101]

That is exactly what Suliso posted a few days ago: if you vaccinate 10,000 people in one day, somebody will wake up the next day WITH SOMETHING. A tooth ache, vomiting, colics, a bad case of the blues.
I mean, when I got my flu shot they gave me a little pamphlet of the side effects. Some people simply will go through something.

Bad statistical understanding...

[ti-amie]

CDC director allegedly ordered deletion of email seeking to interfere with coronavirus guidance, House panel chair says


Robert Redfield is director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Al Drago/Bloomberg)

By
Lenny Bernstein and
Lena H. Sun
Dec. 10, 2020 at 4:00 p.m. EST

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention allegedly ordered the destruction of an email written by a top Trump administration health official who was seeking changes in a scientific report on the coronavirus’s risk to children, the head of a congressional oversight subcommittee charged Thursday.

In a letter to CDC Director Robert R. Redfield and his superior, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.) expressed “my serious concern about what may be deliberate efforts by the Trump Administration to conceal and destroy evidence that senior political appointees interfered with career officials’ response to the coronavirus crisis at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

The report was not altered or withdrawn. But Clyburn, chairman of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, cited an interview three days ago with the editor of the CDC’s most authoritative publication, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, known as MMWR. Charlotte Kent, editor in chief of that report, told investigators that while on vacation in August, she received instructions to delete the email written by Paul Alexander, a senior adviser to Azar.

When Kent went to locate the email, it had already been deleted, she said, according to a transcript of the interview provided by Clyburn. When she inquired about who had ordered its deletion, she was told the instructions had come down from Redfield through the chain of command.

“I heard from [REDACTED], who, as I understood, heard from Dr. [Michael F.] Iademarco, who heard from Dr. Redfield to delete it,” Kent told the investigators, according to the transcript. Iademarco is director of the Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology and Laboratory Services at the CDC.

In a statement released Thursday afternoon through HHS, Redfield said, “Regarding the email in question, I instructed CDC staff to ignore Dr. Alexander’s comments. As I testified before Congress, I am fully committed to maintaining the independence of the MMWR, and I stand by that statement.”

The subcommittee’s ranking member, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), issued a statement disputing Clyburn’s charges. Scalise said the letter “drastically mischaracterizes Dr. Kent’s interview,” and maintained that Democrats on the panel “continue to search for illusory evidence” of obstruction by Trump administration officials.

Clyburn’s letter also asserted that HHS has blocked other top CDC officials from testifying to the committee this week and delayed sending requested documents for many months.

Clyburn also charged that an edition of the MMWR on a coronavirus outbreak at a Georgia summer camp was held up for two days to allow Redfield to testify to Clyburn’s committee on July 31.

An HHS spokesperson said the “subcommittee’s characterization of the conversation with Dr. Kent is irresponsible. We urge the subcommittee to release the transcript in full, which will show that during her testimony Dr. Kent repeatedly said there was no political interference in the MMWR process.

“Moreover, during the interview referenced in the letter, a staff member on the subcommittee chose to violate basic common practices of attorney-client privilege that protect the interests of the department, but more importantly the witness. Despite HHS working diligently to accommodate the select subcommittee’s many requests, the subcommittee is not operating in good faith.”

Efforts by Alexander and his supervisor at HHS, Michael Caputo, to change, delay and block CDC advice to the public on the pandemic were reported this summer, during a period of intense battles between the Trump administration, which was seeking to reopen the country, and the career scientists at the CDC.

In the end, language in the MMWR was not altered, nor was the report taken down, according to a former CDC official with specific knowledge of the event, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share internal deliberations at the time.

“That did not happen,” the former official said. Political appointees at HHS and the White House pressured CDC to change guidance and press releases, but “the MMWR is where the line was drawn.”

Alexander, in particular, was adamant that CDC scientists were reporting information to harm the administration’s efforts. According to Clyburn, the Aug. 8 email that Redfield allegedly sought to delete read, in part: “CDC tried to report as if once kids get together, there will be spread and this will impact school reopening. . . . Very misleading by CDC and shame on them. Their aim is clear. . . . This is designed to hurt this Presidnet [sic] for their reasons which I am not interested in.”

Alexander has left HHS, and Caputo is on medical leave.

The committee said it is seeking to interview Redfield by Dec. 17 and still wants to speak with the four other CDC officials: Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director; Nina Witkofsky, acting chief of staff; Trey Moeller, acting deputy chief of staff; and Kate Galatas, acting associate director for communications.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/c ... story.html

[ti-amie]

In other words, as the late Bob Marley sad "I shot the sheriff but I didn't shoot no deputy."

[ti-amie]

French President Macron tests positive for the coronavirus after showing symptoms

By
James McAuley and
Michael Birnbaum
Dec. 17, 2020 at 11:34 a.m. EST

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron tested positive for the coronavirus after beginning to show symptoms, the country's presidential palace announced Thursday.

The 42-year-old president will isolate for seven days but will continue his work, the statement declared. A spokeswoman for the palace told Reuters that all of the president’s upcoming trips — including a visit to Lebanon that was scheduled for next week — have been canceled.

Macron is the latest world leader to test positive for the virus, following President Trump, Britain’s Boris Johnson and Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro — all of whom have recovered. In contrast with those leaders, who at least initially downplayed the threat of the virus, Macron was one of the first heads of state in the West to embrace mask-wearing, and in the spring he presided over one of the tightest lockdowns in Europe. Macron’s age also puts him in a lower risk category.

The Élysée did not provide details on his condition. A spokesperson said he would still preside over a Thursday meeting on development via videoconference from isolation.

Macron’s diagnosis put other European leaders on alert, since he interacted in the past week with multiple heads of state or government. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is now self-quarantining after dining Monday with Macron at the Élysée Palace in Paris, though El Pais newspaper reported Thursday he had tested negative. French Prime Minister Jean Castex, who has also been in contact with Macron, said he would also be self-quarantining, Agence France-Presse reported.

Macron also met in person with the leaders of 24 E.U. countries on Thursday and Friday last week at a summit in Brussels. (Two leaders were absent: Croatia’s was sick with the coronavirus, and Estonia’s was quarantining.) Ahead of the summit, some diplomats were concerned about the health risks of an in-person meeting. An E.U. spokesman didn’t immediately respond to a question about whether the leaders who were present would now quarantine.

French authorities have informed the European Union that they believe Macron was a contagion risk starting Monday evening, meaning that the leaders who attended last week’s summit are not considered contacts, an E.U. official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to candidly discuss the health situation.

The official said sanitary measures were taken at the summit and that no other participant has tested positive. It was not immediately clear why France believed Macron was contagious starting Monday evening.

In any case, not all European leaders appeared to trust the Élysée’s assurances that Macron was not contagious last week. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo said he was being tested for the virus and would quarantine until he receives the result, after sitting in a room with Macron — along with most of the rest of Europe’s leaders — for almost 24 hours straight starting the afternoon of Dec. 10.

This week, in addition to Sánchez, Macron also met with European Council President Charles Michel on Monday and with Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the day before his diagnosis, Macron held a cabinet meeting, although it was not immediately clear whether it took place in person and, if so, whether all participants wore masks. The Élysée Palace did not immediately respond to questions about that meeting.

Michel will quarantine “as a matter of precaution,” his spokesman said, although he tested negative on Tuesday and “is not considered to be a close contact,” his spokesman, Barend Leyts, wrote on Twitter.

French first lady Brigitte Macron is likewise self-quarantining but currently has no symptoms, according to a statement from her office to AFP. She tested negative for the coronavirus as recently as Tuesday, her office said, in advance to a visit to a pediatric ward at a Paris hospital.

Macron’s diagnosis comes as France is still contending with a second wave of the virus.

In late October, a surge of infections prompted him to declare another national lockdown, the country’s second since the pandemic began. Nonessential shops began reopening late last month, bars and restaurants must stay closed into January, and the French government lifted France’s lockdown on Tuesday, although it imposed an 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew.

While the number of new infections showed some improvement after the nearly month-long lockdown, hospitals appear to be more saturated than they were during a first wave in the spring. The government had hoped that the daily case load would be lower than 5,000 by the time it lifted the second lockdown, but on Wednesday the French Health Ministry reported 17,615 new cases in the previous 24 hours along with 264 new deaths. As of Wednesday, hospitals admitted 8,979 new patients, 1,205 of whom were admitted to intensive care units, according to the Health Ministry.

Vaccination in France is set to begin in late December or early January for high risk groups and health-care workers before expanding to the broader population between April and June. It will not be mandatory, Macron has said.

Macron’s diagnosis raised immediate questions about the handling of Brexit negotiations, which need to be concluded within days if there is any chance of Britain and the European Union ratifying a trade deal by Dec. 31, the day London will sever its final ties with the bloc. Leaders had previously floated the possibility of an additional in-person summit in the next two weeks to finalize a deal.

European policymakers have complained that negotiations about thorny issues are nearly impossible when they are conducted virtually, as has mostly been the case since March.

Macron has been one of the most stubborn European leaders during Brexit talks, and his sign-off is crucial to any Brexit deal.

Birnbaum reported from Brussels. Rick Noack in Berlin and Teo Armus in Washington contributed to this report.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/eu ... story.html

[ti-amie]

White House Official Recovers From Severe Covid-19, Friend Says
By Jennifer Jacobs
December 14, 2020, 1:53 PM EST Updated on December 14, 2020, 4:30 PM EST
Crede Bailey spent three months in hospital with disease
Friend created GoFundMe account with details of illness

A White House official who fell ill with Covid-19 in September is recovering after three months in the hospital, though he lost his right foot and lower leg in his battle against the virus, according to a friend.

Crede Bailey, the director of the White House security office, was the most severely ill among dozens of Covid-19 cases known to be connected to the White House. Bailey’s family has asked the White House not to publicize his condition, and President Donald Trump has never publicly acknowledged his illness.

Bailey’s friends have raised more than $30,000 for his rehabilitation through a GoFundMe account. The White House declined to say whether Trump has contributed to the effort.

“Crede beat COVID-19 but it came at a significant cost: his big toe on his left foot as well as his right foot and lower leg had to be amputated,” Dawn McCrobie, who organized the GoFundMe effort for Bailey, wrote Dec. 7.

Bailey is now at a rehabilitation center and will be fitted for a prosthetic leg in the coming months, she wrote.

“His family has staggering medical bills from a hospital stay of 2+ months and still counting in the ICU and a long road ahead in rehab before he can go home,” McCrobie wrote Nov. 13, when she created the account. “When he does make it home there will be major changes necessary to deal with his new, and permanent, disability.”

Two people familiar with Bailey’s situation confirmed that McCrobie is a friend. They asked not to be identified because Bailey’s family has tried to keep his illness private.

McCrobie did not respond to messages and White House spokespeople declined to comment. Efforts to reach Bailey and multiple members of his family by phone, e-mail and social media have been unsuccessful.

After this story was published, McCrobie updated the GoFundMe page to advise Bailey’s friends to ignore messages from journalists. “Per Crede’s wishes, please let the media tell their story without your input,” she wrote.

Bailey’s office handles credentialing for access to the White House complex and works closely with the U.S. Secret Service on security measures. Bailey was known on the compound as a strong Trump supporter.

The president has repeatedly minimized the risk from Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, both before and after he was hospitalized with the disease Oct. 2-5.

Doctors are still learning about the extent to which the coronavirus can damage the body, but loss of blood flow is one possible consequence. The virus is known to attack the vascular system and can cause deadly blood clots.

When she created the GoFundMe account, McCrobie wrote that “Crede will NOT be happy I’ve done this as he is a proud man who is the first to help everyone else but would never ask for help himself.”

She updated the post Dec. 7 with more details about his condition. He “is blown away by your generosity,” she said to donors.

“His house will need to be renovated to accommodate his disability; ramps to get in/out of the house, the bathroom shower will have to be modified, handrails will have to be installed, etc. etc.,” she wrote.

He’ll also need a new vehicle that can accommodate a wheelchair and that can be modified so the gas pedal can be operated with Bailey’s left leg, she wrote. “I could go on and on but you get the picture - there are a lot of adjustments ahead!”

(Updated with McCrobie post on GoFundMe in ninth paragraph.)

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... riend-says

[Suliso]

I'm afraid situation is dire almost everywhere in Europe and Americas. Vaccines is the only solution at this stage, but their impact will take at least 2 more months to register. EU and Switzerland expected to start their campaigns from December 27th.

[ti-amie]

James Williams
@edujdw

Is this correct? We can gift £BILLIONS for a failing test and trace programme to a private company run by friens and Conservative supporters, but for testing in schools it has to be done by volunteers and already overworked teachers? Seriously?

[ti-amie]

Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald
@kurteichenwald
Now we know why the administration is cutting distrituon of the vaccine to states: Just like the Biden transition team leaked, they had no distribution plans. Pfizer explains in next tweet....

COVID-19 vaccine allocation cut by 40% in Washington state
Gov. Inslee calls the reduction in supply of COVID-19 vaccines "disruptive and frustrating."
https://www.king5.com/article/news/heal ... 86474bc9cb



https://pfe-pfizercom-d8-prod.s3.amazon ... .vSQ7BDMw_

[ponchi101]

I'm afraid situation is dire almost everywhere in Europe and Americas. Vaccines is the only solution at this stage, but their impact will take at least 2 more months to register. EU and Switzerland expected to start their campaigns from December 27th.

Indeed. The closing down here in Colombia is all but gone. Traffic up to the same volumes, people in the street just getting ready for Xmas.
Many places are installing hand-washing stations at their entrance. Sponsored by soap companies. Not a bad idea.
Colombia is expecting 10 MM doses starting Feb-Mar (Pfizer/BioNtech). As you say, the only way out. But that would cover only 10% of the population (around 50 million). I gather we will need the other companies to join the game soon.

[ti-amie]

Interior shuts Washington Monument after interior secretary tests positive for the coronavirus
Park Service staff say they may have been exposed when David Bernhardt led a private, after-hours tour

By
Juliet Eilperin,
Lisa Rein and
Darryl Fears
Dec. 18, 2020 at 12:18 p.m. EST
Add to list
Officials have taken the extraordinary step of closing the Washington Monument starting Friday as a precaution after Interior Secretary David Bernhardt — who had been giving private, nighttime tours to associates — tested positive for the coronavirus.

Interior spokesman Nicholas Goodwin confirmed the temporary closure, saying the department acted after consulting with federal health officials. Bernhardt had led other Trump DOI appointees on a tour earlier this week. Some National Park Service staff at the site said they had been exposed to the secretary during his after-hours tour and are now in quarantine, which has led to a staffing shortage at the monument, Goodwin said.

“As we do in all circumstances when an employee attests to having covid-19, we work with our public health officials to ensure all guidance from the CDC is followed, such as identifying close contacts and cleaning areas as appropriate,” Goodwin said. “The Secretary was recently at the Washington Monument. In working with our public officials and out of an abundance of caution, a couple of employees have quarantined resulting in a temporary workforce reduction at the monument and its temporary closure.”

The secretary’s diagnosis Wednesday forced the cancellation of a large Interior Department holiday party scheduled for Thursday night, and it is raising concerns about his deputy’s plans to visit two national parks next week. Deputy Secretary Katharine MacGregor, who is headed to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons National Parks starting Monday, has asked National Park Service staff to drive her between them and provide tours of Yellowstone for four days, according to several federal officials briefed on the plan who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation. Depending on the route, the trip is 113 miles and should take roughly three hours by car.

MacGregor’s trip to Wyoming “will move forward as planned” because the department’s team of public health professionals had examined her recent activities and determined she “has not had close contact with Secretary Bernhardt as described by CDC guidance,” Goodwin said. He added, “the health and safety of the public and our employees is our top priority.”

“Interior has an incredible team of more than 60 public health professionals on staff that have been leading the Department’s pandemic response efforts with the Secretary and other members of leadership over the past year,” he said, adding that since the Washington Monument reopened Oct. 1, no Park Service staffer working there has tested positive for the coronavirus.

MacGregor will visit newly renovated staff housing in the park, officials said, which has been a major administration priority. Interior Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Rob Wallace, who lives in Wyoming and is working remotely, may accompany MacGregor on her park tour, officials said.

Bernhardt, who tested positive for the coronavirus before he was to attend a Cabinet meeting with President Trump on Wednesday, has been in proximity with several Interior officials in the past week. Political appointees had meetings Monday and Tuesday, according to two federal officials, which culminated with a reception with food and drink in the secretary’s office.

Several of the appointees walked through the building to the secretary’s office without wearing face coverings, according to one of the officials. Some of the highest-ranking officials at Interior — including Bernhardt and MacGregor — have not consistently worn masks, according to two individuals.

The shuttering of the Washington Monument, where visitors normally crowd into a small elevator to ascend to the top, has implications for D.C.'s tourist industry. The administration first closed it in mid-March, then reopened it in October. Under pandemic procedures, a limited number of people are allowed in the elevator at any one time, and they must be spaced six feet apart.

A notice posted on the Park Service’s website reads, “Consistent with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance and in coordination with the NPS Office of Public Health, the Washington Monument is temporarily closed due to a reduction in its workforce resulting from a potential COVID-19 exposure.”

“NPS is working to staff the Washington Monument at the appropriate levels to maintain the safety of its operations for visitors and employees,” it adds.

Theresa Pierno, president and chief executive of the National Parks Conservation Association, a nonprofit group that supports the park system, said in an email that the move illustrates that “Bernhardt has been careless and reckless managing our national parks and public lands throughout this pandemic.”

“His irresponsible behavior has put countless park rangers in harm’s way, further demonstrating his failure to put the health and safety of park visitors and rangers at risk,” she added. “To use our parks as his own personal playground is shameful, and a slap in the face to the American people.”

Bernhardt is not the only interior secretary to lead private tours of the nation’s most famous park sites. His predecessor Ryan Zinke brought friends and family members on park trips across the country, touring everywhere from the basement of the Lincoln Memorial to California’s Channel Islands National Park.

With a month remaining before the Trump administration ends, MacGregor plans to visit two national parks in Wyoming. While department officials are now reassessing the activities she will do during the trip, the initial itinerary called for Park Service employees to pick her up in Bozeman, Mont., and drive her to the park, as well as provide transportation at times during her stay.

MacGregor has asked to go snowshoeing during her visit, as well as for transportation to be arranged between Yellowstone and Jackson Hole Airport. Transportation options include a snow coach or van, both of which would be enclosed, or a snowmobile, which is not.

Some employees at both Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons have expressed concerns about the possibility of coming in close contact with MacGregor during her trip, according to three officials. Bernhardt may travel to both parks early next month, these officials added, though those plans have not yet been finalized.

Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks Chair Phil Francis, whose group represents both Park Service retirees as well as current officials, noted that “while we hope the secretary will recover,” the fact that he visited staff at Great Smoky Mountains National Park in early May and “there was no sign of the secretary wearing a mask or social distancing” raises concerns.

“It’s truly unbelievable that Secretary Bernhardt and his staff would plan a trip to Yellowstone at a time when the pandemic is raging,” Francis said in an interview. “The lack of concern for others is astounding.”

MacGregor would not be the first high-ranking Interior official to visit Yellowstone under a lame-duck president. Then-Secretary Sally Jewell flew to the area just before Thanksgiving in 2016 to announce a two-year ban on new mining claims outside the park.

At the time the administration was racing to impose new restrictions on development near the park. Several proposals for gold exploration just north of Yellowstone had sparked opposition from business owners and environmentalists as a threat to tourism and outdoor recreation.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2 ... rdt-covid/

[ponchi101]

Meanwhile, down here.
After a celebration called "Night of the candles" (people get together to light up candles in celebration of the Immaculate Conception), a very large surge of cases have brought daily new cases and deaths back to record numbers (nation wise).
The govt is asking people to stay away from large gatherings again. In the meantime, you can't walk down the supermarket aisles because both of the amount of products and people.
Very little analysis to do after the full year of virus.

The govt also established the vaccine protocol. Nothing major: health personnel first, risk groups second, then people over 60, then the rest of us...

[ti-amie]

Rebekah Jones, MS, GISP
@GeoRebekah
Sweden has admitted that their strategy was a mistake, names schools as a major driver of spread, and closes all high schools until end of January.

Katrin Rabiei, MD PhD @DrKatrin_Rabiei

Press conference in Sweden by the Flag of Sweden government including @SwedishPM & head of the public health agency.
I will summarize what they said here Thread:

@SwedishPM: "Healthcare is doing all they can but their strength is ebbing away."
https://svt.se/nyheter/inrikes/senaste- ... ronaviruse
Minister of Social affairs:

Spreading is going too fast in Sweden. We need harder restrictions

Government wants to thank those who have taken measures to minimize the spread (!).

Non essential business (pools, museums) to close until 24th of January
Vaccine is a new & sought after tool against #COVID19

Deputy PM takes over:

All non essential workers must work from home until 24th of January
From 24th of December:
only 4 persons can gather at a restaurant
No alcohol sale from 20.00
Maximum number of people at shopping centers, shops & gyms.
Use of Face with medical mask during certain hours in public transport
High schools closed until 24th of JanuaryEveryone who can work at home must work from home!

[ponchi101]

Well. As an experiment, it was worth it. Now we really know that expecting for herd-immunity WAS not the way to go.
Would like to see a serious person from Brazil coming forth with their findings.

[ti-amie]

Christmas plans in chaos as Boris Johnson tells London and southeast to ‘stay home’
PM announces toughest measures yet for England as new virus strain causes surge in cases

Caroline Wheeler, Gabriel Pogrund | The Sunday Times

Christmas holiday plans for millions of families in southeast England will be plunged into chaos tonight as new restrictions are introduced to contain a new strain of the coronavirus.

Boris Johnson has unveiled tier 4 restrictions for London, the southeast and east of England, which will prevent households from mixing over Christmas.

The restrictions come into force at midnight, with all non-essential shops, including hairdressers, and indoor leisure centres and cinemas closed with immediate effect.

The prime minister told the 5.3 million people living under the toughest measures to stay at home. The only exceptions are for support bubbles, childcare and separated parents. Individuals will be able to socialise with one other person from another household in a public outdoor space.

In other areas in England, the lifting of restrictions to allow up to three households to mix will be limited to Christmas Day only. People will also be advised to “stay local”.

Mr Johnson cautioned people against visiting tier 4 areas and banned overnight stays.

He had previously said it would be “inhumane” to scrap plans to relax restrictions between December 23 and 27, but told a televised press conference today: “I know how disappointing this will be ... when the science changes, we must change our response. When the virus changes its method of attack, we must attack our method of defence. And as your prime minister, I sincerely believe there is no alternative open to me.”

The move is an attempt to reduce transmission after the government alerted the World Health Organisation to a new mutant strain that is up to 70% more infectious.

Officials have estimated the strain accounts for 60% of new infections in London, where intensive care units are operating at full capacity and all non-essential outpatient appointments are set to be cancelled.

No 10 has said it expects other countries to ban Britons, mirroring the action taken after the identification of a mutant strain linked to mink in Denmark. Those in tier 4 will be banned from holidaying abroad.

The change in policy came after ministers and scientific advisers met last night to discuss the current outbreak, which has seen daily deaths reach 534. More than 170,000 people have tested positive for the virus over the past week. The cabinet met to ratify the decision this afternoon.

Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer, said there was no evidence that the new strain of the virus, known as VUI2020/12/01, caused a higher mortality rate or was impervious to the vaccine.

However, he said the new and emerging respiratory virus threats advisory group, which advises ministers, considered it was more infectious.

The tier 4 restrictions will apply in all tier 3 areas in the southeast, covering Kent, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Surrey (excluding Waverley), Gosport, Havant, Portsmouth, Rother and Hastings.

It will also apply in London (all 32 boroughs and the City of London) and the east of England (Bedford, Central Bedford, Milton Keynes, Luton, Peterborough, Hertfordshire and Essex (excluding Colchester, Uttlesford and Tendring).

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/chri ... -xlmj9r2bv