in a dramatic change of policy millions
of people across england
have been placed under stringent new
coronavirus restrictions for the festive
season
boris johnson made the announcement
today after scientists said a mutation
of covet 19
was spreading rapidly in london the
southeast and east of england
the variant is said to be much more
contagious but doesn't cause more
serious illness wells in scotland
tonight have also tightened their
coronavirus rules
well from midnight tonight new tier 4
restrictions come into force
affecting all current tier 3 areas in
london the southeast and
east of england more than 17 million
people are affected
the public is being asked to stay at
home and there will be no
so-called christmas bubbles for
gatherings get-togethers will be
restricted to meeting one
other person in an open public space
non-essential shops will close as well
as gyms beauty salons
and hairdressers for those living in
tiers one to three in england
christmas bubble gatherings can only
take place on christmas day
the original plan was for five days
meanwhile
all of wales will go into lockdown from
midnight tonight
with the restrictions only used for
christmas day
and scotland is also only limiting
relaxing its rules to christmas day
with the highest level of restrictions
coming into force for the whole country
on boxing day all travel to the rest of
the uk
is also banned for the festive season
northern ireland has already announced
its new national lockdown from december
to 26th
well with all the details here's our
political editor laura koonsberg
literally i'd sat in my chair in floods
of tears
and messaging my family you know what
we're gonna do
leslie nelson was planning a family
christmas round the table in norfolk
the spare beds are made up the present's
bought
she spent the last two in hospital and
fears this year might be her last
now her sister can't visit and her sons
can't stay
it just seems so unfair for somebody
like me
i'm terminally ill i won't be here next
christmas
people can think okay that's why we'll
celebrate christmas in the summer
i don't know if i'm going to be here in
the summer my sister's going to be
sitting at home by herself
100 miles away
and her presence are under the tree
but rising alarm about the new variant
of the virus
has left number 10 feeling there simply
isn't a choice christmas plans have to
be dropped
and a third of the population is back
under limited lockdown
in less than two hours it is with a very
heavy heart i must tell you we cannot
continue with christmas as planned
in england those living in tier four
areas should not mix
with anyone outside their own household
at christmas
though support bubbles will remain in
place for those of particular risk of
loneliness
or isolation we have a particularly fast
fast-moving
problem with increased numbers in the
area gains at tier four but a
generalized increase
across the country on wednesday you told
me and our viewers it would be inhuman
to change the plans and now that's
exactly what you've done
aren't there millions of people whose
plans have just been torn up
entitled to feel that you just left this
too late
we of course bitterly i regret the the
changes that
are that are necessary but alas when the
facts change
uh you have to change your approach
professor witte if someone is packing a
bag
right now listening to or watching this
trying to leave the southeast by
midnight tonight
what should they do my short answer
would be
please unpack it at this stage
rules will only be relaxed for
get-togethers on christmas day in
scotland too
and the next day all of scotland's
mainland will be under the tightest
limits
travel to other parts of the uk will be
banned it makes me want to cry
as i'm sure listening to it will make
many of you want to cry because i know
how harsh
this sounds um i know how unfair it is
but this virus is unfair but the new
variant of the disease is already in
wales
so like the south east of england
limited lockdown is coming into force at
midnight
there are hundreds of people in wales
who are suffering from this new
variation and that they're to be found
in every single part
of wales and that those figures are very
likely to be an
underestimation of the prevalence of
this variation
in northern ireland from boxing day
there will already be six weeks of
tougher restrictions
but conversations are ongoing about
changes to christmas plans
and the uk opposition had already called
for a national rethink
i'm really frustrated because i raised
this with the prime minister on
wednesday
and he dismissed that and went on to
tell people to have a merry little
christmas only three days later to rip
up their plans and i think the british
public's entitled to
more decisive leadership than that
so plans are changing for millions some
rushing for a last minute late night
trim
before hairdressers across the southeast
close again
it just means that i'm gonna probably
work till
12 o'clock tonight just to put a few
more clients in
less than two hours until so many doors
close again
less than a week until the strangest of
christmases
the end of a year of bizarre traditions
few would care to repeat
laura kunsberg bbc news
well while the new variant of kovind 19
is particularly prevalent in london and
the southeast of england there's growing
concern
over its possible spread to other parts
of the uk in a moment we'll get the view
from scotland with alexandra mackenzie
in glasgow but first let's speak to
james williams who's in cardiff james
not long to go now
midnight is when lockdown comes into
force where you are
yeah absolutely clive three days after
announcing tougher christmas rules and a
whale's wide lockdown from the 28th of
december the first minister has
accelerated and
tightened those restrictions in light of
this new variant with all detected right
across wales so as you say from midnight
the whole of wales will enter its third
national lockdown and for christmas two
households will be able to meet plus one
of the
single person households but only for
christmas day
itself now following these announcements
we've seen
huge queues at many welsh shops many
people trying to do some last minute
christmas shopping in person leading the
first minister to
call on them not to do that there's no
doubt that these announcements will be a
big blow to people's personal christmas
plans
and also to many welsh businesses but a
sigh of relief i'm sure from welsh
health leaders
who have been urging the welsh
government to introduce an immediate
lockdown
given the pressure on our hospitals and
wales having many
of the uk's highest case rates and to
you alexandra in glasgow tougher rules
there too for christmas including a
travel ban to the rest of the uk
that's right nicola sturgeon said she
could have cried
making these announcements today
christmas was meant to be five days
it's down to one day just the 25th
of december and people aren't going to
be allowed to travel
it will be illegal for people to travel
between
scotland and the rest of the uk and
people
are being encouraged to have christmas
at home just
within their household and not within
that extended
christmas bubble that we've talked about
before and also
mainland scotland that will go into
level
four restrictions on boxing day now
that's pretty much locked down and
island communities
will go into level three school pupils
they were all expecting to go back to
school at the beginning of january
but some will now be studying at home
online learning until at least the
middle of january
okay alexandra mackenzie in glasgow and
james williams in cardiff thanks to you
both
let's take a look at the the latest
government coronavirus figures now and
there were 27
052 new cases in the last 24-hour period
with the average number of new
infections reported per day in the last
week standing at 24
752 534 deaths were recorded in the last
24 hours
that's of people who died within 28 days
of a positive covid19 test
on average in the past week there were
436 deaths per day
bringing the total number across the uk
to 67
075 well our medical editor fergus walsh
joins us now fergus what is the effect
of this new variant
and um how and why has it affected
government
thinking so radically
well clive this new variant appears to
be up to
70 percent more transmissible that's
really significant crucially it does not
appear to cause
more significant disease but it makes it
much
harder to control the epidemic now it's
thought
it could push the reproductive number
the r number
of coronavirus up by 0.4 it's currently
between
1.1 and 1.2 across the uk
it was first identified in kent in
september it seems to have been just one
of these spontaneous mutations
and it now accounts for six in ten cases
in london
and in the east of england but it's
spread throughout the uk
now viruses mutate all the time in
itself that's
not a worry and sometimes when they
become more transmissible
they become less lethal now coronavirus
is actually
much more stable than flu we need a new
flu vaccine
every year because it mutates such a lot
it's thought that the current covid
vaccine will still be
effective against this new variant 350
000 people in the uk have now had their
first dose
and the first the hope is that most over
65s and vulnerable
will be protected by easter but that's a
long way off it's going to mean a long
winter
of restrictions ahead okay fergus thank
you fergus walsh there our medical
editor