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The decision, which Mr. Johnson announced after an emergency meeting of his cabinet, came after the government got new evidence of a variant first detected several weeks ago in southeast England, which the prime minister asserted was as much as 70 percent more transmissible than previous versions, The New York Times reported.

The new measures, which take effect on Sunday, are designed, in effect, to cut off the capital and its surrounding counties from the rest of England. They are the most severe measures the British government has taken since it imposed a lockdown on the country back in March, and reflect a fear that the new variant could supercharge the transmission of the virus as winter takes hold.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a wholesale lockdown of London and southeast England on Saturday.Credit Photo: Andrew Testa/ The New York Times.

“When the virus changes its method of attack, we must change our method of defense,” a somber Mr. Johnson said on Saturday. “We have to act on information as we have it because this is now spreading very fast.”

Viral mutations are not uncommon, and British officials said this variant had been detected in a handful of other countries, without naming them. But the government’s medical experts expressed alarm about its apparent infectiousness, noting that it now accounts for more than 60 percent of the new infections reported in London.

Other scientists cautioned that only laboratory experiments and other kinds of analysis will determine with certainty whether the variant is more transmissible, or if its prevalence is due to other factors.

Shopping in Oxford Circus in London last week. The new lockdown will apply to nearly 20 million people, a third of England’s population. Photo: Andrew Testa/ The New York Times.

But some said there was good reason for concern that this variant is more infectious. Preliminary findings suggest that it is spreading so fast in Britain that it is quickly displacing dozens of competing versions of the coronavirus that have been circulating for longer.

“This spread is happening at a moment in time when there are already many lineages circulating, and despite that, it is displacing them all,” said Kristian Andersen, a geneticist at the Scripps Research in La Jolla, Calif. “We can’t say for sure, but to me, it looks like this very explosive growth is primarily because” of its new mutations.

The new variant in Britain shares a crucial mutation with a lineage that is growing just as explosively in South Africa. At a World Health Organization meeting early this month, scientists reported that the South African variant accounted for 80 to 90 percent of newly identified infections, driving an explosive second wave.

Whatever the characteristics of the mutation, it is clear that Britain faces an escalating crisis, even as it rolls out a mass vaccination program. Nationwide, the pace of new infections has nearly doubled in less than two weeks, leaping past most of Western Europe, though it remains well below the per capita rate in the United States.

A closed cafe in central London last week, after the city entered Tier 3 restrictions. Photo: Andrew Testa/ The New York Times.

Public health experts said the new variant reinforced the urgency to tighten restrictions to try to eliminate the virus altogether since new mutations are a recurring phenomenon.

Dr. Vallance, a physician, and medical researcher said scientists had identified 23 changes in the new variant, an unusually large number, including several in the “spike protein” that the virus uses to attach itself to host cells, which could increase its transmissibility.

“This virus spreads more easily,” Dr. Vallance said, as he flanked Mr. Johnson, “and therefore more measures are needed to keep it under control.”

The new lockdown zone includes all of Greater London and much of the surrounding southeast of the country, a densely populated area encompassing nearly 20 million people, a third of England’s population. The restrictions will remain in place for at least two weeks and will be reviewed on Dec. 30.

The government told people to stay at home except for urgent travel, medical appointments, and outdoor exercise. Those outside the zone were advised not to travel into it, and those inside will not be permitted to travel outside overnight. Foreign travel is strongly discouraged. Nonessential shops will close, as will gyms, movie theaters, hairdressers, and nail salons.

Elsewhere, three households will be allowed to gather, but only on Christmas Day, and not for the extended five-day period once promised.

Several European countries halt UK flights, fearing new coronavirus variant

The Netherlands, Belgium, and Austria on Sunday banned flights from the U.K. and Germany considered limiting such flights to make sure that a new strain of coronavirus sweeping across southern England does not establish a strong foothold on the continent, according to CNBC.

Commuters walk along the Thames Path in view of Tower Bridge in London, U.K., on Monday, Dec. 14, 2020. Photo: Hollie Adams | Bloomberg via Getty Images

The Netherlands banned flights from the U.K. for at least the rest of the year while Belgium issued a flight ban for 24 hours starting at midnight and also halted train links to Britain, including the Eurostar. German officials were considering “serious options” regarding incoming flights from the U.K., but have not yet taken action.

Austria said it would also halt flights from the U.K. but there were no immediate details on the timing of the ban, the Austrian news agency APA reported. The Czech Republic, meanwhile, imposed stricter quarantine measures on people arriving from the U.K.

Italy also plans to suspend flights to and from the U.K. over concerns about the new coronavirus strain, its Foreign Minister Luigi di Maio announced Sunday afternoon local time.

A passenger walks at Rome airport after Italy announced all flights to and from the UK will be suspended Photo: Remo Casilli/Reuters

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said Sunday said he was issuing the flight ban for 24 hours starting at midnight “out of precaution.”

“There are a great many questions about this new mutation and if it is not already on the mainland,” he said. He hoped to have more clarity by Tuesday.

Germany has not yet spelled out a ban but is considering limiting or halting flights from the U.K. as well, the DPA news agency reported Sunday. A high-ranking German official told DPA that restrictions on flights from Britain are a “serious option.”

The Czech Republic announced that all people arriving in the country who spent at least 24 hours on British territory during the last two weeks have to isolate as of this Sunday.

Germany, which holds the rotating presidency of the 27-nation EU, was in contact with its neighbors and was following all developments about the new variant closely, DPA reported.

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