Housing secretary Robert Jenrick has said another full national lockdown will remain under consideration as the government grapples with the rising spread of Covid-19 and a new variant of the virus.
Asked in an interview with the BBC whether the government is considering reintroducing a national lockdown in the new year, Jenrick said such a measure was not the immediate plan but that the matter was being reviewed.
“We keep everything under review, but what we are trying to do is retain the robust tiered system,” he said. “That is the best way to keep the virus under control, because you’re taking a proportionate approach in different parts of the country based on what’s actually happening there. There still are today wide variations between Cornwall and Herefordshire, for example, at the bottom end of the scale, and London, Kent and parts of the east of England at the top end of the scale.”
Jenrick continued: “It’s right that we try to be proportionate and not put in place measures that are unnecessary, because we know they’re so harmful to people’s broader health and wellbeing and obviously to the business community in those parts of the country.”
Expectations are growing that further parts of the country may be moved into tier 4 coronavirus restrictions, a new level of measures put in place owing to the fast spread of a mutated form of the virus in London and parts of the South East. Jenrick confirmed that the government will meet to discuss such a step today.
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