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New coronavirus restrictions are set to impact London and other parts of Britain this week as the United Kingdom’s case count continues to rise.
The Tier 3 measures – which will go into effect Wednesday morning – will force bars and restaurants to serve customers by takeout and delivery only, according to Sky News.
The restrictions will also ask residents to not meet anyone indoors for social gatherings, unless they live in the same household or bubble. Spectators won't be allowed to attend sporting events and indoor entertainment venues like bowling alleys and movie theaters must shut down, the BBC adds.
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Tier 3 is the highest level of Britain’s coronavirus lockdown system and parts of nearby Essex and Hertfordshire counties will join London in imposing the restrictions this week.
Last month, London was among the areas with the lowest regional infection rates in England. But some areas in and around the English capital have now become virus hotspots, the Associated Press said.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Monday that the government must take swift action after seeing “very sharp, exponential rises” in Greater London. He said that in some areas, cases are doubling every seven days.
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Hancock also told lawmakers Monday that a surge of COVID-19 cases in southern England may be associated with a new variant of coronavirus.
He didn’t provide details about the virus variant, but stressed there was nothing to suggest it was more likely to cause serious disease, or that it wouldn’t respond to a vaccine.
“We’ve currently identified over 1,000 cases with this variant predominantly in the south of England although cases have been identified in nearly 60 different local authority areas,” he said. “And numbers are increasing rapidly.”
Hancock said officials are assessing the new strand of the virus, and that the World Health Organization has been notified.
“The medical advice that we have is that it is highly unlikely that this new variant will impinge the vaccine and the impact of the vaccine,” he said.
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London Mayor Sadiq Khan also has urged the government to ask all secondary schools and colleges in London to shut early ahead of Christmas because of outbreaks among 10 to 19 year olds.
The United Kingdom reported 18,541 new coronavirus cases in the past day and has recorded 1.85 million overall infections, with nearly 65,000 deaths, according to statistics from Johns Hopkins University.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.