New Covid Strain: 70% More Infectious

Another covid strain has been identified and believed to be 70% more infectious than previous. Cases have exploded in Southern England and Wales, and so the nation prepares for another sway of changes.

Another lockdown, here we go again. Whilst England has kept lockdown to tier 4 areas, Scotland has locked the whole of the mainland down. With the islands being the only exception to a 3 week lock up from Boxing Day onwards. We can’t even leave Scotland and no one can enter from outside the land border. It is not clear yet what this means for international travellers.

However, I think England may enter into a major lockdown if they have any sense. The reason why Scotland will be buckling up come Boxing Day, is to prevent the new strain that has appeared in the South of England. It is not quarantined within the South of England alone however, unfortunately there have been cases in Scotland.

London and the South have seen the biggest growth factor in recent and it is this which sparked the alarm bells.

So What is This New Strain?

Bad news to say the least really, this strain is 70% more contagious than the last one. Yep, that is a hella lot more contagion. It was first identified back in September, but has only now been identified as the dominant covid strain. September was a fair while ago-so why have they only just  put plans in place?

Apparently…They Only Just Realised 

Apparently, the government only became aware of the full severity of the new strain on Friday. They in turn reacted quickly and called a new lockdown. Scotland went one step further and have put back the return to school. All school children, bar those of key workers and the vulnerable, will only return to school full time on the 18th January. And this may be extended. They will begin online learning on the 11th January, and will therefore have an extra 3 days off. So far, no additional plans have been made for England.

This is despite the South of England having Christmas axed. The tragic news meant families in London and the South could no longer meet on Christmas Day, under tier 4’s strictest conditions. This is where the strain has become most prevalent. 

This New Strain Must Be Serious

If they’re delaying schools, it must be serious. The government has put off any cancellation of school with a barge pole. There had been discussions as to whether the school Christmas holidays should be brought further forward, and extended at the end. This was the discussion over a month ago; which they later axed plans for, but have now returned to. Everyone wondered how they even axed the plan in the first place; surely they needed to ensure of a two week quarantine before Christmas-to prevent mass infection during the holidays?

Yet, they didn’t, and here we are at this junction anyway. It is difficult to know what to do in these times. 

I think the evidence has been so overwhelming-the Scottish government and the UK government has had no other option but to make serious plans. 70% more infectious means make serious plans. Absolutely mental, I never thought this would transpire, and we really are in the zombie apocalypse. Still, John Swinney says:

‘Schools are safe’

This is to try and encourage pupils to keep on attending this week! 

“Truly John, the school isn’t safe.”

Talk about insisting upon something until you are blue in the face.

On A Good Note

For more positive news in Britain, the reason we know about this new strain, is because we have the technology for it. The world’s most advanced technology (Genomics) in tracking viruses. Handy, so handy, it detected the new strain and stalked it, and over time discovered it had become the dominant variant. Well done Britain. 

So even though the rest of the world may be casting us off like we have a bad smell and not allowing us into their ports-at least we know what’s going on, whilst the rest of the world may not. Scary, and although there have been reports of other countries discovering the same strain in their population-there will be plenty who have not. Plenty who do not have the means and therefore are not aware.

France Banned UK Lorries In And Out of the UK

France did ban lorries in and out of the UK today…but this looks to have been reversed. Boris Johnson has just announced breaking news to confirm so.

Interesting part of this is: many of the ports lie within Kent, and Kent is experiencing this rapid mutation of the virus.

Did the New Variant Travel From Abroad?

It is possible. It has largely spread within Kent, the South of England and London and these are travel hubs. 

Indeed, there is thinking along this line, but no one knows as of yet where this may have come from.

Will the Whole Country Go Into Lockdown?

It looks like that may be on the cards, and breaking news, the PM is on the tele now making announcements. It has not been confirmed if we are going into national lockdown but things are looking serious. It didn’t help that, as soon as the announcement was made about tier 4 and London, and the South-hordes made their way to London to travel home for Christmas! And so the new variant spreads to the rest of the country.

The new message is:

Act Like You Are Infected