Residents of London began to leave the city en masse after tightening restrictive measures due to the identification of a new variant of the coronavirus. This was announced on Sunday, December 20, by The Daily Mail.
According to the newspaper, serious traffic jams at the exit from London have formed on the main highways of the city. Crowds of locals have gathered at major train stations in the British capital, who are trying to leave the metropolis before the new restrictions come into effect.
On December 14, British Health Minister Matt Hancock announced that a new, mutated version of the coronavirus had been identified in the country. At that time, about 1,000 infections with the new strain were noted in the south of the country.
On December 19, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus strain identified in the south of Great Britain is more infectious. According to the politician, the initial signs of the spread of the new variant of the virus indicate that it is 70% more infectious than the original strain.
At the same time, Johnson clarified that there is no evidence that the new version of the infection is more deadly or causes a more serious disease. On the same day, Johnson announced the tightening of restrictive measures in London and in the south of the country due to the spread of infection.
In particular, residents of London and the southeast region were banned from getting together on Christmas. Those who are in the zone of maximum restrictions are not allowed to leave their area, where “secondary” shops, hairdressers, gyms and cinemas are closed. In the rest of the country, households were only allowed to gather for one day – directly at Christmas.