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* UK says new COVID strain spreads more quickly
* Govt to consider urgent action to curb rise in cases
* Urgent work to see if new strain affects mortality rate
(Adds BBC report)
By Michael Holden
LONDON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris
Johnson discussed with his senior ministers on Saturday what
urgent action to take after it was confirmed that a new strain
of the COVID-19 virus could spread more quickly and lead to a
surge in cases.
The BBC reported that London and southeast England would be
placed in a new higher tier of restrictions and the government
would cut back on a planned relaxation of the rules over
Christmas, but gave no further details.
Johnson will hold a news conference at about 1600 GMT during
which he will discuss what his plans are in light of a rise in
infections across London and southeast England linked to a new,
more transmissible variant of the virus.
England's Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said that while
there was no current evidence the variant of the novel
coronavirus caused a higher mortality rate or impacted vaccines,
urgent work was underway to confirm this.
"We have alerted the World Health Organization and are
continuing to analyse the available data to improve our
understanding," Whitty said in a statement.
Britain reported 28,507 new COVID-19 cases on Friday and 489
deaths, with the reproduction "R" number estimated to be between
1.1 and 1.2, meaning the number of cases is rapidly increasing.
Johnson said on Friday he hoped England would not need a
third lockdown after Christmas and has so far resisted calls to
change plans to ease restrictions for five days over the festive
period, allowing three separate households to meet indoors.
Much of the country, including London, is currently in the
highest of a three-tier system of restrictions to curb the
pandemic's spread. The Daily Telegraph newspaper said ministers
could now announce curbs on travel between southeast England,
including the capital, and the rest of the country.
The BBC said these areas would now be placed in a new "Tier
4", with a tightening of rules for Christmas.
"Failing to act decisively now, will mean further
suffering," Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust and a
member of the government's Scientific Advisory Group for
Emergencies (SAGE), said on Twitter. "We must keep asking
ourselves 'are we doing enough, are we acting quickly enough'."
The opposition Labour Party said the tiering system had
failed to curb the virus's spread.
"It has been apparent for some days that the virus is again
out of control in parts of the country," said Jonathan Ashworth,
Labour's health spokesman.
(Additional reporting by Elizabeth Piper;
Editing by Ros Russell, William Maclean, Catherine Evans)
