Coronavirus news — live: Cases up more than 50% in a week as EU states begin suspending travel from UK

26 min readDec 20, 2020

Christmas has been cancelled for millions of people after Boris Johnson ordered a strict new lockdown for vast swathes of southeast England and London.

The prime minister abandoned the government’s original five-day relaxation of measures between 23 and 27 December in light of a new variant of coronavirus that is up to 70 per cent more transmissible than the original.

He issued “stay at home” orders and banned gatherings in areas that fall under the new tier 4 restrictions.

Across the rest of England, the mixing of households in “Christmas bubbles” will be restricted to just a single day on 25 December itself — a measure also adopted by both Scotland and Wales.

It comes as the UK recorded its highest ever number of daily infections, after cases rose by more than 50 per cent in a week. Meanwhile, EU states are considering halting flights from the UK amid concerns of the new strain of coronavirus, with Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Vienna having already suspended travel.

KEY POINTS

US prepares for Moderna Covid vaccine rollout

The US is preparing to rollout the Moderna coronavirus vaccine, with jabs scheduled to start on Monday.

The American pharmaceutical giant gained emergency approval for its vaccine on Friday, a week after Pfizer became the first company to have its vaccine given the all clear by the country’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

On Sunday evening, an expert committee will meet in the US to discuss which groups should be given early doses of the vaccine next.

New Covid variant spreading across UK, public health leader warns

The new strain of coronavirus spreading through London and the southeast of England has spread to other parts of the UK, a public health leader has warned.

Dr Susan Hopkins, of Public Health England, told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday that although many regions had recorded cases of the new strain, these were in “very small numbers” compared to London, Kent and parts of Essex.

She said it had been detected in Wales and Scotland, but not in Northern Ireland.

Dr Hopkins also said she hoped people who had rushed to leave London, leading to crowded trains on Saturday night, would reduce their contacts.

“I understand people’s wish to get home to their families and loved ones that they may live with on a normal day-to-day basis and wanted to get out of London last night.

“I hope that when they go to wherever they are moving to they reduce their social contacts and don’t contact anyone outside their household for the next 10 days, as that will help minimise the risk of transmission to other parts of the country.

“We know it’s in other parts of the country in small amounts, but what we are trying to do is prevent more spread and rapid increases across the rest of the country,” she added.

Kate Ng20 December 2020 17:43

44 minutes ago

Thailand starts mass testing after large Covid outbreak

Thailand has started to test tens of thousands of people for Covid-19, after the country’s largest coronavirus outbreak was detected in a shrimp market southwest of the capital Bangkok.

The province of Samut Sakhon, where the market is located, was put into lockdown as a result. As of Sunday 689 cases had been reported there, according to the health ministry.

Before this outbreak, Thailand had largely kept the virus at bay and had only a total of 5,000 Covid-19 infections since the pandemic began.

The health ministry expects to find “a lot more infections” and will test 40,000 people in Samut Sakhon in the coming days.

Rory Sullivan20 December 2020 17:26

Care homes refusing to use rapid Covid tests due to safety fears

Care homes across the UK are refusing to implement a fast Covid test scheme designed to allow family members to visit their relatives.

Over a million lateral flow tests (LFTs), which return results within half an hour, have been sent to 385 care homes in England.

However, fears over the tests’ safety and accuracy have led many homes to decide against using them. This comes after the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) said LFTs only detected 48.9 per cent of Covid-19 cases.

Care homes refusing to roll out rapid Covid tests due to safety concerns

Sage research shows lateral flow tests used by care sector capable of detecting only 48.9 per cent of active infections

Rory Sullivan20 December 2020 17:14

Germany ‘pushing’ to halt flights from UK into continental Europe — reports

German newspaper Bild has reported that the German government is pushing to stop all flights from the UK from entering continental Europe from midnight tonight.

The ban would last until at least 6 January, according to the newspaper, and German chancellor Angela Merkel is reportedly speaking with French president Emmanuel Macron this afternoon.

Some government sources have suggested to Bild that exceptions could be made for return flights to prevent planes and EU citizens from being stranded in the UK.