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The British government's health officer, Chris Whitty, has warned of a new variant of the coronavirus that will make the pathogen spread faster.
Government pandemic advisors believe this new variant is responsible for the dramatic increase in numbers in southern England, Whitty said on Saturday.
The World Health Organization (WHO) had been informed.
But there is no evidence that the infections are more often fatal or that the virus reacts differently to vaccines or treatments, Whitty said.
Health Minister Matt Hancock had already brought up the new virus variant on Monday.
Whitty said health officials identified them through genome monitoring.
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced stricter measures for several regions of the country on Saturday.
Accordingly, London and parts of south-east England will slip one category in the country's multilevel system of measures.
Originally planned easing over the Christmas days will therefore no longer apply.
Travel to or from the region is prohibited.
Johnson said, “As Prime Minister, it is my job to make difficult decisions.
(...) We cannot continue with Christmas as planned. ”A meeting of several households is therefore not possible in regions of the new“ level four ”.
There is no other option.
"We are sacrificing the opportunity to see our loved ones this Christmas to see them again next year," said Johnson.
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Originally, a so-called "Christmas Bubble" was planned, in which up to three households should be able to meet over Christmas, namely in the days from 23 to 27 December.
For the rest of England this period has now been reduced to one day.
"If the virus changes its method of attack, we'll have to change our method of defense," said Johnson.
All non-essential businesses and other facilities such as gyms or beauty salons have to close.
The British health authorities had registered 28,507 new infections within 24 hours on Friday.
On Saturday, the total number of registered infections exceeded the threshold of two million.
A new mutation of the coronavirus has also been discovered in South Africa.
The 501st V2 variant could be behind the rapid spread of the second corona wave in the country, Health Minister Zwelini Mkhize said on Friday.
According to South African doctors, more younger people became infected during the second wave than before.
They also suffered more often from a more severe course of the lung disease Covid-19.