UK imposes tough new COVID restrictions; variant virus spreads to Europe

Tough new COVID-19 restrictions have begun in the UK to halt the spread of a new variant of the virus causing the disease. There are also more reports of the variant reaching other European countries, international news agencies say.

The variant is believed to spread more quickly.

In Britain, restrictions have been imposed in Scotland and Northern Ireland under tighter measures, and measures that were relaxed for Christmas Day in Wales have also been re-imposed, the Associated Press says.

The number of people under the country’s top level of restrictions, Tier 4, increased by 6 million today to 24 million people, around 43 per cent of Britain’s population. No indoor mixing of households is allowed and only essential travel permitted. Gyms, pools, hairdressers and stores selling nonessential goods have been ordered to close.

A further 570 deaths from COVID-19 were reported in the last 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 70,195. More than 32,700 new cases of the disease were reported on Christmas Day.

In her annual Christmas address, Queen Elizabeth II, who has spent much of the year isolating at Windsor Castle with her husband Prince Philip, delivered a heartfelt message of hope praising the “indomitable spirit” of those who have risen “magnificently” to the challenges of the pandemic.

The queen’s address carried added poignancy given the great sadness and upheaval that many families have experienced in the UK, which has Europe’s second-highest death toll behind Italy.

Reports of new variant in Europe

Meanwhile, cases of the variant have been confirmed in Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, the BBC reports, as a vaccine is due to be rolled out across the continent.

Hungary has become the first in the EU to vaccinate people against the virus.

The country's state news agency said the first recipient of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine there was a doctor at Del-Pest Central Hospital. France, Germany and Spain are among the nations where vaccinations are expected to start on Sunday.

Scientists say the new COVID-19 variant could already be circulating, or have originated from, outside the UK, but it was discovered in Britain first because of the strength of the UK's surveillance system.

The new variant is considerably more transmissible than previous strains, but not necessarily any more dangerous for those infected, experts say.

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