Hancock on new London restrictions, virus variant

London and its surrounding areas will be placed under Britain's highest level of coronavirus restrictions beginning Wednesday as infections rise rapidly in the capital, the UK health secretary said on Monday, adding that a new variant of the virus may be to blame for the spread.

Matt Hancock said the government must take swift action after seeing “very sharp, exponential rises” in Greater London and nearby Kent and Essex.

The surge of COVID-19 cases in southern England may be associated with a new variant of coronavirus, Hancock told reporters.

Chief Medical Officer for England, Prof Chris Whitty, said officials are assessing the new strand, but stressed there was nothing to suggest it was more dangerous than the known form of the virus, or that it wouldn’t respond to a vaccine. Britain started vaccinating people over age 80 and health care workers last week, using the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.