Boris Johnson ‘considers ban on travel’ as New Coronavirus Strain is ’50 per cent more contagious’

Boris Johnson ‘considers ban on travel’ as New Coronavirus Strain is Found to be ’50 per cent more contagious’.

The current strain of the Covid mutation is ravaging the southeast at ‘frighteningly transmissible’ speeds. Boris Johnson could hit parts of England with strict travel restrictions just days before Christmas in a bid to stop the spread, reports claim. The Prime Minister is said to be seriously considering a travel ban that could take effect as early as today, Saturday, Dec. 19.

The measure could be rushed through after he was given the stark new evidence of the virulence of the new mutant strain of Covid-19. A government source said: “What we do not know yet is whether the new strain is more or less likely to cause you harm, but what we have learnt is that it will pass to person to person much more easily and that is what we are really worried about.”

Professor Sir Mark Walport, a member of the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said there was a real possibility that it could have a “transmission advantage. ”

“What happens with viruses is they do naturally mutate all the time and the ones that are likely to do well are the ones that increase transmission,” he told BBC2’s Newsnight. We know that this is a new variant, it has been seen in other countries but it seems to be quite widespread which suggests that it has got a transmission advantage,” he said.

He added: “Scientists are working extremely hard to work out what is going on. But it does definitely seem possible that this transmits more easily. It will make the social-distancing even more critical.”

Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Peterborough, Hertfordshire, Surrey – with the exception of Waverley, Hastings and Rother, and Portsmouth, Gosport and Havant in Hampshire are all being placed in Tier Three today, Dec. 19. Wales has already announced its own Tier 4, known as “alert level” four, to come into effect from Christmas Eve before a raft of even stricter residents come into effect four days later.

A new six-week lockdown in Northern Ireland is “draconian but necessary”, the deputy First Minister has said. Stormont Executive ministers agreed to close non-essential retail and contact services, as well as restricting the hospitality sector to takeaway only, from December 26.

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