United Kingdom

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/12/19/world/covid-19-coronavirus#boris-johnson-orders-a-severe-lockdown-saying-a-more-infectious-variant-of-the-virus-is-ripping-through-britain

LONDON — Alarmed by what he called a faster-spreading variant of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Boris Johnson abruptly reversed course on Saturday and imposed a wholesale lockdown on London and most of England’s southeast.

The decision, which Mr. Johnson announced after an emergency meeting of his cabinet, came after the government got new evidence of a variant first detected several weeks ago in Kent, southeast of London, which the prime minister asserted was 70 percent more transmissible than previous versions. Cabinet ministers were told that in London, cases had nearly doubled in the last week, with the new variant accounting for 60 percent of those.

Factbox-Latest on worldwide spread of the coronavirus Tighter restrictions were imposed in London as COVID-19 infections surged, while Canada and the United States started the vaccine roll-out, offering some relief as the U.S. death toll crossed the grim milestone of 300,000. Reuters Staff U.S.

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