Boris Johnson held a meeting with ministers and leading medics tonight after the new strain of COVID-19 was detected in parts of the South West, Midlands and the North. The group discussed moving other areas into the new Tier 4. The Prime Minister is due to announce the new clampdown as soon as tomorrow, with the measures due to take effect immediately after Christmas.
A “Gold Command” meeting of public health chiefs and ministers met on Tuesday evening to sign off expanding the hardest lockdown measures beyond London and the South East, according to .
Health sources said last night it would not affect all of England “but there are many areas that need tougher measures and are seeing dramatic cases numbers”.
On Tuesday the Government’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallence warned “I think it’s likely that measures will need to be increased in some places, in due course, not reduced.”
More to follow…
