New turn of the screw across the Channel.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to announce, Monday January 4 at 8 p.m. local time (and GMT), new restrictions in England in the face of the surge in Covid-19 cases, which has prompted calls for strict containment, according to Downing Street.
"The Prime Minister is clear on the fact that new measures must now be taken. (...) He will announce them this evening", indicated his spokesperson.
Scotland, for its part, entered containment again on Monday, Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon having established a legal obligation to stay at home from midnight, to contain the spread of a highly transmissible variant of the coronavirus.
The health situation is more worrying than last March, she said, the new variant of the coronavirus, 70% more contagious, accounting for almost half of new cases in Scotland.
Covid-19: affected by the third wave, Scotland announces strict containment
02:36
"With this new variant, the virus has just learned to spread much faster and has most certainly picked up its pace over the past two weeks," Nicola Sturgeon told the Scottish Parliament.
"It is no exaggeration to say that I am more concerned about the situation we are facing now than I have been since March," she added.
According to The Times, the new restrictions are likely to remain in effect until spring and the reopening of schools will be postponed until January 18.
With AFP and Reuters
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