By Government ‘do not rule out’ national lockdown, Health Secretary says
When asked if the government could take further measures to try and curb the spread of COVID-19, Matt Hancock reportedly told Sky News:
“We don’t rule anything out.”
Health Secretary Matt Hancock says the new UK coronavirus variant “makes life much harder for everybody” as it is harder to control the spread because it passes on so much faster.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has recently warned that tougher virus rules may be needed in the short-term.
However, the likes of Matt Hancock and Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer are calling on the PM to tighten restrictions now, with Sir Keir calling for a national lockdown to be implemented within 24 hours.
Similar to Sir Keir’s calls upon the PM, Sir David King, a former chief scientific adviser to the government, said ministers should not wait to introduce a national lockdown.
He said:
“We don’t have to wait and watch as the new variant of the disease spreads in other parts of the country”.
“We have to see a national lockdown now”.
Hancock said that the new variant means that the old tier system in England:
“Which was clearly working, is no longer strong enough”.
He continued on to say the UK’s “saving grace” is the vaccine, but before that can help curb infections “we have some very difficult weeks ahead”.
Mr Hancock also said that areas in Tier 3 were seeing sharp rises in coronavirus cases, a hint that those parts of the country not already in Tier 4, could be moved up to the highest level of restrictions in the near future.
“This new variant is much easier to catch, it is much more transmissible, and we’re now seeing the effect of that in lots of different parts of the country, unfortunately”.
“And it means that whereas the old Tier 3 was able to contain the old variant, that is proving increasingly difficult in all parts of the country”.
When questioned if Tier 4 restrictions work in keeping the virus under control, Mr Hancock expressed:
“It is down to people’s behaviour, frankly”.
“What matters is, yes of course, the rules that we put in place, but it is also about how people act”.
Contact Gi National
Email us: news@gi-media.co.uk
