Yahoo News Today's news: Latest headlines for the UK on Monday 14 December
If you would like today’s top stories straight to your inbox every day, sign up to our daily ‘Catch-up’ newsletter. You can also visit our Today’s News section, which gets updated daily.
— Today's top story in 60 seconds —
New COVID strain 'could be driving up infections'
What happened?
A new strain of coronavirus has been identified in England, and could be fuelling the rapid rise in infections in London and the South East, the health secretary has said. Matt Hancock announced that the capital and parts of Essex and Hertfordshire will face Tier 3 restrictions from Wednesday following “very sharp, exponential rises” in cases. He said the newly identified variant may be associated with the “faster spread” of the virus in the South East.
'Not a moment to spare'
Hancock warned there was "not a moment to spare" as he announced the decision to move the areas to Tier 3, meaning all hospitality must close except for takeaways, and household mingling is banned except in some outdoor public spaces where the rule of six applies. Speaking at a Downing Street press conference, the health secretary said: “We know from experience that the best thing to do in the face of this virus is to act fast, not to wait to see its growth continue – and we do not rule out further action.”
What do we know about the new strain?
Hancock told the Commons the new variant had been identified by experts and “initial analysis suggests that this variant is growing faster than the existing variant”. He said: “We have currently identified over a thousand cases of this variant, predominantly in the south of England, although cases have been identified in nearly 60 local authority areas and numbers are increasing rapidly.” He said there was nothing to suggest the variant was more likely to cause serious disease and he suggested the vaccine should still be effective.
Read more about it
Experts warn it is too early to worry about new coronavirus strain (PA Media)
What is the difference between Tiers 1, 2 and 3 in England? (Evening Standard)
MPs say London should have been in Tier 3 straight after lockdown ended (Yahoo News UK)
—The big coronavirus stories today—
No plans to cancel Christmas bubbles
The easing of COVID-19 restrictions over Christmas will go ahead despite spiking infections in parts of the UK, Downing Street has said. The prime minister’s official spokesperson said there were no plans to shorten the period in which families can meet up in Christmas bubbles. Read the full story here (Yahoo News UK)
GPs start giving out COVID vaccine
Family doctors across England have begun vaccinating their patients against COVID-19. GP practices have started taking delivery of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID vaccine from central hubs, with the over-80s among those called up to receive the jab. Read the full story here (PA Media)
Tier 3 is 'nail in the coffin' for pubs
London’s move into the toughest tier of COVID-19 restrictions is “another nail in the coffin” for the city’s pubs, industry chiefs have warned. Hospitality venues must close, except for takeaway and delivery, in the capital as well as parts of Essex and Hertfordshire from Wednesday as the areas join much of the rest of England in Tier 3. Read the full story here (PA Media)
European countries face new lockdowns
Italy is facing new lockdown rules over Christmas amid a new spike in COVID-19 cases. The governmet is considering "red zone" rules for the whole country from 24 December. On Sunday, Germany confirmed it would be imposing another lockdown from Wednesday and into January. Read the full story here (Yahoo News UK)
— Have your say —
— What else happened today? —
Google services hit by rare outage
Google has restored service for the “vast majority of users” after a major outage took the firm’s key apps, including YouTube and Gmail, offline. The service status website said Google’s entire suite of apps had gone down, leaving users unable to access emails or documents via the company’s software. Read the full story here (Evening Standard)
Former Liverpool manager dies
ormer Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier has died at the age of 73. The Frenchman, who also managed Aston Villa later in his career, guided the Reds to an FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup treble in 2001, the highlight of his six-year spell in charge. Read the full story here (The Guardian)
Teen charged with murder of boy, 12
A 14-year-old boy has been charged with murdering 12-year-old Roberts Buncis, whose body was found on grassland near Boston, Lincolnshire, days before his birthday. The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared in court on Monday and is due to stand trial in June next year. Read the full story here (Yahoo News UK)
Brexit trade deal 'still possible'
A trade deal between the UK and European Union is still possible, Brussels’ chief negotiator Michel Barnier has said. Talks were extended on Sunday after Boris Johnson and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen agreed to continue the process despite major differences still remaining. Read the full story here (PA Media)
