Christmas canceled: Boris Johnson orders Londoners to ‘stay at home’

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday announced a lockdown in London and south-east England due to the coronavirus that will also apply during Christmas.

From Sunday, people living in those areas won’t be allowed to mix with other households and non-essential shops will close, as officials become particularly worried about a new strain of COVID-19 identified this week that is now known to spread more quickly.

All parts of London and many areas in the south and east of England will now enter a new “Tier 4” that Johnson likened to the full lockdown of earlier this year. Residents of other parts of England will still be allowed to mix three households to form a “Christmas bubble,” but only for one day rather than the previously announced five.

“We cannot continue with Christmas as planned. In England, those living in Tier 4 areas should not mix with anyone outside their own household at Christmas,” Johnson said at a press conference, with exceptions for specific cases where support is needed.

“I know how disappointing this will be, but we have said throughout this pandemic that we must and we will be guided by the science. When the science changes, we must change our response,” he said.

The announcement comes amid fresh data about the increased infectiousness of the new strain of COVID-19, which the prime minister said may be up to 70 percent more transmissible than earlier variants.

In England, the weekly average coronavirus case rate has increased by 66 percent in two weeks and almost doubled in London in the past week. Earlier Saturday, the BBC reported about 27,000 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.

There is no evidence that the new variant causes more severe illness or higher death rates. There is also no evidence that the coronavirus vaccine won’t work on the new strain, Johnson said.

As of Sunday, people in Tier 4 areas will be required to stay at home, with exceptions for education, childcare and exercise.

Previously announced rules permitting “Christmas bubbles” will no longer apply, and people won’t be able to travel to other households for Christmas, or travel abroad. People must work from home if they can, but can go to work if they have to, the prime minister said.

“The police have done an amazing job of light-touch enforcement … I’m sure they’ll continue to do so but above all, I’m sure that people will want to [comply] themselves,” the prime minister said when asked whether he’d advise the police to “knock on doors” at Christmas to make sure that people respected the rules.

Non-essential shops, indoor entertainment and personal care businesses such as hairdressers will close as of Sunday.

No relaxation of restrictions is planned for New Year’s Eve on December 31.

The strictest Tier 4 controls will apply in: Kent, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Surrey (excluding Waverley), Gosport, Havant, Portsmouth, Rother and Hastings, all London boroughs, Bedford, Central Bedford, Milton Keynes, Luton, Peterborough, Hertfordshire, and Essex (excluding Colchester, Uttlesford and Tendring).

All tiers will be reviewed on December 31.

Emilio Casalicchio contributed reporting.