This is not the news I wanted or needed, but it jumped out this morning.
Johnson U-turn leaves nation’s plans for Christmas in tatters
Spread of new Covid strain forces lockdown with a ‘stay home’ alert for London and south-east Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverage
The key quote is:
In a major U-turn that prompted an immediate backlash from his party, the prime minister placed a third of England’s population under new tier 4 restrictions to counter a Covid strain believed to be up to 70% more transmissible than previous variants.
from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/19/johnson-u-turn-leaves-nations-plans-for-christmas-in-tatters
SEVENTY PERCENT?!?!? Yikes. Just when vaccines were starting to tilt the news in a more hopeful direction…