The threat of national reconfinement, and the cancellation of the end-of-year festivities in London.
The United Kingdom is worried and sees no improvement on the health front.
On Friday, the mayor of the British capital Sadiq Khan announced that the fireworks for the transition to the new year were canceled.
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“You cannot afford to have a crowd that aggregates,” the Labor mayor said on private radio LBC.
Instead, the city is working to create an event "that people can enjoy in the comfort and safety of their living room, on television," he added.
"Nothing will happen in the city," he continued, thus avoiding the temptation for Londoners to break the rule which prohibits any gathering of more than six people.
"Do whatever it takes to protect lives"
The United Kingdom is the country most bereaved by the pandemic in Europe with more than 41,600 dead.
Since the beginning of September, the progression of the virus has been worrying there.
"The number of hospitalized patients infected with the coronavirus is doubling every eight days," Health Minister Matt Hancock said on Friday.
The British government does not rule out resorting to a new general containment for all of England, a "last line of defense" but seeks to avoid such a measure by favoring local restrictions, according to the Minister of Health.
Asked Friday morning on press information evoking the hypothesis of confinement for a period of two weeks during the school holidays which begin in mid-October, Matt Hancock explained that the government "wants to avoid a national confinement but we are ready to do it if necessary, ”he told the BBC.
"We are ready to do what it takes to protect lives," he said, stressing that the government could resort to other local restrictions, as it has already done, especially Thursday in some localities. from the North East of England.
"Be tough now"
Entered into force Friday, the measures, which affect two million people, notably prohibit meetings between people from different homes and introduce a curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. in places of entertainment.
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A total of 10 million people live in areas affected by local restrictions in the UK, according to UK media estimates.
The government has also come under fire for criticism of the tests, for which demand greatly exceeds supply.
"The only way to ensure that the country can enjoy Christmas is to be tough now," British Prime Minister Boris Johnson explained Thursday.
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