New Covid-19 strain: Sunak under pressure to announce fresh relief packages

Summary

• A new variant of the Covid-19 strain called VUI-202012/0 has been discovered in the UK
• Experts said that the new strain is more infectious than the earlier variant
• The government has imposed a new stay-at-home lockdown from Sunday
• With the tougher restrictions, Chancellor Rishi Sunak is under pressure to announce a fresh package of emergency economic support for businesses and individuals

A new fast-moving variant Sars-CoV-2 virus, VUI-202012/0, has been discovered in the United Kingdom that is driving most of the new cases and could lead to a sharp rise in the number of cases in the country. Experts are claiming that the new strain is 70 per cent more infectious and is highly transmissible in comparison to the earlier variant.

The variant was first detected in September and almost 60 per cent of the cases in London were caused due to the new variant in November. The government has imposed a new set of stringent stay-at-home restrictions from 20 December, cautioning that the new coronavirus strain is spreading more easily and rapidly. So, four days before Christmas, nearly one-third of England’s population is under lockdown.

The variant has been found in the UK, except Northern Ireland. It is mainly concentrated in London, the South East and eastern England.

British Health Secretary Matt Hancock warned people that the lockdown measures could stay in place until the Covid-19 vaccine is fully rolled out. He appreciated the new stay-at-home orders have been implement at the right time.

Hancock also informed that the mutation had caused 1,100 new infections in 60 local authority areas. Since the new strain was multiplying fast, they have to get the transmission under control. Researchers and scientists have said that the vaccines that were rolled out on 8 December would be effective against the new strain.

Sunak under pressure

With renewed restrictions, Chancellor Rishi Sunak is again under pressure to announce a fresh package of emergency economic support for businesses and workers who are being affected badly amid the festive season.

 (Image Source: ©Kalkine Group 2020)

The UK high street shop owners have warned of a fresh crisis after the launch of tier 4 restrictions in London and other affected areas. The lockdown forced the retailers to close their operations during the most crucial trading period of the year, risking more business failures.

Shadow Chancellor Anneliese Dodds said the last-minute announcement has led businesses into chaos and suggested that the government should use the business rate relief worth £2 billion that was repaid by supermarkets to the Treasury in order to help the ailing companies.

British Retail Consortium’s (BRC) Chief Executive Helen Dickinson said the high street retailers are now under the risk of losing £2 billion of sales every week for the third time this year. She urged the chancellor to extend the Government’s relief on business rates, saying that thousands of jobs are now at risk.

Changes in the furlough scheme are also being sought by Labour in order to allow workers, who started new jobs after 31 October, to qualify for the wage subsidies.

Earlier, the chancellor had extended the furlough wage subsidy scheme for a month, which means it will now end on 30 April. He had also extended the availability of treasury-backed business loans until the end of March.

To Know More, Do Read: British public spend on furlough rises to £46.4 billion

Other Affected Areas

As per data from Nextstrain, Australia and Denmark are also witnessing fresh cases which have come from the UK. Nextstrain is monitoring the genetic codes of the viral samples around the world.

A person with new coronavirus strain with mutations has been detected in Italy, who is said to have travelled back from Britain recently. Cases of the new strain have also been found in the Netherlands.

Flight bans

Many European countries have restricted travel to Britain because of the new Covid-19 strain. A ban has been imposed by the Netherlands on all UK flights. Belgium would also be following the suit.

Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio wrote that Italy will be joining the ban in order to protect its citizens from the virus, but it hasn’t specified when these measures would come into effect. Austria's Health Ministry has also stated that it is working on imposing a flight ban.