The British prime minister announced a city closure at midnight Saturday (Dec. 19), while the U.S. president cautioned that the cure cannot be worse than the problem itself.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a “Level 4” lockdown of parts of London and southeast England at midnight, the highest level of the U.K. alert system.
U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted two consecutive videos of the British prime minister announcing the closure on Saturday, saying the U.S. would not close the city because “the cure can’t be worse than the problem itself!
Trump has repeatedly said in the past that he opposes a nationwide embargo for the sake of the economy and businesses struggling to survive.
Trump tweeted in response to the British Prime Minister’s latest closure order that the cure cannot be worse than the problem itself. (Screenshot of Trump’s tweet)
Another tweet from Trump said the China Virus is hitting the world, and the U.S. is not the only victim.
He blamed fake news and big tech companies in the U.S. for not reporting truthful information about the outbreak, and that the U.S. was at the forefront of vaccine development, years ahead of schedule.
“The entire world has been severely traumatized by the Chinese (Communist Party) virus, but if you listened only to the fake news of the ‘lamestream media’ and Big Tech, you would think we in the United States were the only victims,” he wrote. He wrote. “No, we are the country that has developed a vaccine and is years ahead of schedule.”
The U.S. has begun to roll out vaccination programs across the country after both Pfizer and Modena received FDA approval for their vaccine injections.
Video of Residents Fleeing London Already in U.K. City Closure Goes Viral
The strictest, city closure measures announced by the British prime minister on Saturday will affect 18 million people, with all non-emergency businesses having to close and residents having to stay home unless they go to work and advised not to travel elsewhere, although places of worship will remain open.
The rules will remain in place until Dec. 30, when officials will review them again.
Already on Saturday night, videos were posted on social media showing large numbers of residents fleeing London before the city was closed.
Earlier, scientists said they had detected a variant of the strain in Britain that is 70 percent more contagious than the existing one. Patrick Vallance, Britain’s chief scientist, said the new variant of the virus has triggered a surge in cases in the past two weeks and may have spread to other countries or regions.
The U.K. reported 27,052 new cases and 534 deaths Saturday. London now has the highest rate of infection in the U.K., with the new mutation accounting for about 60 percent of cases in London, according to officials.
The U.K. and the U.S. began rolling out the first batches of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine this week, and Valance said there is no indication so far that the mutation could nullify the effectiveness of the vaccination.
This is the third time the U.K. has imposed a blockade to slow the spread of the virus. The first was on March 20, and the second was from Nov. 5 to Dec. 2. The embargo was re-imposed two weeks later on Dec. 19.
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