Essex calls it a ‘major event’ as England opposes a wider ban on new coronavirus variants

A “major incident” has been declared in Essex as things continue to spin in the travel zone area, after local officials said they feared the pandemic could spread. get over his resources.

The Essex Sustainability Forum (ERF) said the number of patients receiving treatment in hospitals for Covid-19 had now exceeded the April peak. The Essex Central and South NHS Trust contacted their three hospitals on 29 December.

The region has the highest rate of coronavirus restrictions in the country, known as Tier 4, along with London and most of southeast England.

The ERF, which includes members of the local NHS, emergency services and authorities, said it was making the announcement on 30 December in response to “growing demand” for the his hospitals. He hopes this move will allow local leaders to seek further government support.

It comes as health secretary Matt Hancock prepares to put more of the country under Stage 4 restrictions in a bid to fight a new version of coronavirus that was unveiled earlier this month.

In news for MPs after 3pm on December 30, Hancock is expected to keep London under the toughest restrictions. On 29 December England passed 53,000 daily positive cases of coronavirus, the highest daily number recorded since the outbreak began.

READ Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine gets UK approval for immediate release while new version takes over

Asked if the current serial measures would be extended, Hancock told the BBC: “Yes, I am going to send details of that to the House of Commons this afternoon. ”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson held a meeting with ministers on Dec. 29 to discuss the change in the country’s locking rules, a Downing Street spokesman said.

Hancock also revealed that the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University was approved by the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). It will be released from January 4, along with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which was approved earlier this year.

“This is great news for accelerating the spread of the vaccine. It brings forward the day when we can get our lives back to normal, ”he said Sky News.

“It is very difficult to deal with this new virus… But, thankfully, the cavalry has reached not just two vaccines. We need to get these into people ‘s arms as soon as they can. “

READ NHS chief warns health workers ‘back in the eye of storm’ as Covid-19 cases converge

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