More than 39,000 new diagnoses were confirmed in the United Kingdom on Wednesday, a new record high. The U.K. announced the highest level 4 outbreak control measures for more areas in eastern and southeastern England from Saturday. A new variant of the South African virus, also more contagious, has been found in the United Kingdom. Germany imposes a week-long mandatory lockdown after a record single-day death toll of nearly 1,000.
The UK added 691 new coronavirus deaths on Wednesday, with the number of confirmed cases again topping 30,000. British health Secretary John Hancock said the new variant of the virus is spreading at a dangerous rate, and he announced more areas to implement the highest level 4 outbreak prevention and control measures from 26 onwards. These areas, including Sussex, Oxfordshire, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire in England, will affect 6 million people, bringing the number of people living in alert level 4 areas to 24 million, or about 43 percent of England’s total population.
In addition, the UK has discovered a new, more infectious variant of the virus from South Africa, so that South Africa from 3,000 new cases a day to 9,500 confirmed cases a day. The British government has imposed a travel ban on South Africa and called on people who have visited South Africa in the past 2 weeks to self-quarantine.
The UK previously found 2019 coronavirus disease variant virus, a 70% increase in infectivity. However, British Health Minister Hancock said at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon that a new variant of the virus with more infectiousness had been found in the UK, and both cases of infection had been to South Africa.
Hancock said: this new variant of the virus is very worrying, because it is also more infectious and further mutated than the new variant found in the United Kingdom. He said anyone who has been to South Africa in the past two weeks and anyone who has had contact with the two men must immediately self-quarantine.
According to the Daily Mail, the new variant of the virus in South Africa may be more contagious in younger age groups than other variants of the virus. The average age of newly infected patients has been found to be younger. South Africa’s Health Minister Mkhizi said the new variant of the virus seems to be spreading more rapidly, but it is not yet known whether it will aggravate the disease and whether it will make the vaccine ineffective. According to the report, South Africa currently has more than 8,500 people hospitalized with the infection, surpassing the peak of 8,300 people in August, of which as many as 90% of the new variant of the virus.
According to AFP, more than 50 countries have banned tourists from the UK from entering the country. And including Britain, Germany, Switzerland, Turkey, Israel and others have banned South African airliners from entering the country in an attempt to curb the spread of the virus.
According to the French Ministry of Health, nearly 15,000 new cases were confirmed in France on Wednesday, representing 4.3% of the total population. On Dec. 8, the percentage had reached 6.4 percent. The number of seriously ill patients was 1,701. There were 278 new deaths. French health authorities are concerned that the upcoming Christmas and New Year holidays will see another peak in confirmed cases.
According to the German government on Wednesday, there were 962 new deaths in Germany, a new record high for a single day. Germany has imposed a mandatory lockdown since the 16th, forcing most stores, barbershops and other services to close and schools to close at all levels.
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