UK Cancels Christmas Due to New “Highly Contagious" Strain of Coronavirus

UK Cancels Christmas Due to New “Highly Contagious" Strain of Coronavirus

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has imposed a full lockdown on London and southeast England in a desperate attempt to stop a new coronavirus strain from spreading rapidly across the United Kingdom.

“After emergency talks on the virus mutation with his top officials, the prime minister canceled his plan to ease pandemic rules for five days during the holiday. Household mixing will be banned in London and the southeast, and socializing will be restricted to just Christmas Day across the rest of England. Residents across the country were told to keep to their local areas,” reports Bloomberg.

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Reportedly the new strain is 70% more contagious.

"The spread is being driven by the new variant of the virus," Johnson said at a  press conference on Saturday.. "It appears to spread more easily and may be up to 70% more transmissible than the earlier strain."

Dr. Michael Fine, former RI Director of Health said we will have to see if the new vaccines — Pfizer and Moderna — will be as effective with the new strain.

The FDA gave final approval on Saturday for distribution and usage of the Modern.

“The dramatic escalation in the government’s pandemic response was triggered by a new strain of the virus that is virtually unique to the U.K. Emerging scientific evidence suggests the new variant can spread significantly more quickly than previous strains in circulation and is behind a huge surge in infections in recent days,” reports Bloomberg.

"This is now spreading very fast," Johnson said. "It is with a very heavy heart that I say we cannot continue with Christmas as planned."