Boris Johnson Says Vaccine Appears Effective Against All Variants
Travel in and out of the areas is highly recommended due to the rapid increase in new cases. Members of the public in the areas have been told not to gather indoors and should avoid social contact.
Bolton, Leicester, Kirklees, Bedford, Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley and North Tyneside were on the list along with the London Borough of Hounslow.
The orientation change was made on Friday on the government’s website without an official announcement.
The deputies and local councils have also been surprised by the change of advice.
The guide is not currently a law, but it is the closest England has come to a local lockdown since the gradual easing of restrictions starting in March.
READ MORE: India Variant Hotspots: Which Areas of England Are Affected?
The local orientation has changed due to the increase in cases of the Indian variant (Image: GETTY)
When Boris Johnson outlined his roadmap to getting back to normal earlier this year, he said he was hopeful the plan would be “cautious but irreversible.”
But, following the surge in cases of the Indian Covid variant, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has refused to rule out localized curbs.
When asked on Sky News about the prospect on May 16, he said: “We don’t rule that out.
“The approach that we are taking at Bolton and Blackburn is absolutely accumulating evidence and vaccines to try to overcome this.”
Cases of the mutant strain of the virus have risen with data from Public Health England released on Thursday indicating there was a 160 percent increase in just one week.
On May 20 there were 3,424 cases of the strain compared to 1,313 cases the previous week.
READ MORE: Germany bans British tourists over fears of Indian variants
Matt Hancock hasn’t ruled out imposing local locks (Image: PA)
While evidence shows that two doses of a coronavirus vaccine are successful in combating the variant, there are concerns that it could still spread among those with just one hit.
The new guidance issued by the Government for the areas experiencing the highest increases in cases states: “The new Covid-19 variant is more easily transmitted from person to person.
“To help stop the spread, you need to be especially careful when meeting someone outside your home or bubble of support.
«In the listed areas, whenever possible, you should try to gather outside instead of inside when possible, stay two meters away from people you do not live with (unless you have formed a support bubble with them ).
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Areas under additional restrictions due to the Indian variant (Image: EXPRESS)
“This includes friends and family you don’t live with, and avoid traveling in and out of affected areas unless essential, for example for work (if you can’t work from home) or education.”
The change of orientation without any official announcement has left those affected “stunned”.
Yasmin Qureshi, Labor MP from Bolton South East and shadow minister for international development, said: ‘I was not informed of this and I understand no one else in Bolton.
I’m stunned. They are making such an important announcement and they don’t even have the decency to tell us or our constituents.
“This is typical of the incompetence of this government.”
The Secretary for Work and Pensions, Therese Coffey, defended the change in orientation on BBC Radio 4’s Today program.
Coronavirus in latest figures (Image: EXPRESS)
She said: “The point is, it’s about targeting those communities where additional resources have been invested to try to help them address this, and that’s why it’s more of a targeted communication that focuses on the higher risk areas.
“It’s about having a sensitive element, recognizing that it is easier to transmit this virus when people are indoors.
“We have to really focus on ventilation and limit ourselves as individuals where the risks of where we could perhaps transmit the virus or contract the virus.
“So it’s important that we all take that responsible local action and we know that’s particularly true in certain communities across the country right now.”
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