北爱尔兰进入了为期六周的封锁，而在威尔士，圣诞节那天放宽了限制。
受到英格兰最高限制的等级4的人数在星期六增加了600万人，达到2400万人，约占英格兰人口的43％。该地区包括伦敦及其许多周边地区。
不允许在室内进行家庭混合，只允许基本旅行。健身房，游泳池，美发店和出售非必需品的商店已被勒令关闭，酒吧和餐馆只能外卖。商业团体表示，这种限制将对其成员造成经济上的破坏。
据报道，另外有570例COVID-19造成的每日死亡人数，使英国的总死亡人数达到70,195人，是仅次于意大利的欧洲第二大死亡人数。英国在圣诞节还报告了32700多例新疾病病例。
对英国新变种的担忧引发了一周的边境混乱。在法国短暂关闭与英国的边界并要求所有驾驶员进行冠状病毒检测后，圣诞节那天大约有1,000名英国士兵试图清除积压在英格兰东南部的大量积压卡车。
但英国运输部长格兰特·沙普斯（Grant Shapps）周六表示，已经对15,000多名驾驶员进行了测试，曼斯顿机场的一个测试现场的积压工作已于周日上午清除。他在推特上说，仅报道了36项阳性测试。
沙普斯在推特上写道：“对过去几天不懈努力的所有人表示极大的感谢，以减少由于法国突然关闭边境而造成的巨大破坏。”
现在，在法国和西班牙发现了英国新变种的第一批病例。法国公共卫生机构说，一名居住在英格兰的法国男子于12月19日抵达法国，并于周五对新变种进行了测试。他没有症状，并且正在图尔市中心的家中隔离。
与此同时，马德里地区的卫生当局表示，他们已经在四人中证实了英国变异，他们所有人都身体健康。区域卫生负责人恩里克·鲁伊斯·埃斯库德罗（Enrique Ruiz Escudero）说，当一名感染者飞往马德里机场时，这种新菌株已经到来。
在一年一度的圣诞节中，伊丽莎白女王二世与丈夫菲利普亲王在温莎城堡隔离，她在一年一度的圣诞节致辞中表达了衷心的希望，即赞扬那些“勇于”挑战的人们的“坚定不移的精神”。大流行。
这位94岁的女王和她99岁的丈夫菲利普亲王以身作则，在圣诞节期间不像往常一样探望亲戚。
Millions face new UK virus restrictions; border chaos eases
Northern Ireland went into a six-week lockdown and in Wales, restrictions that were relaxed for Christmas Day were also re-imposed.
The number of people under England's top level of restrictions — Tier 4 — increased by 6 million on Saturday to 24 million people overall, around 43% of England's population. The region included London and many of its surrounding areas.
No indoor mixing of households is allowed, and only essential travel permitted. Gyms, pools, hairdressers and stores selling nonessential goods have been ordered to close and pubs and restaurants can only do takeout. Business groups say the restrictions will be economically devastating to their members.
Another 570 daily deaths from COVID-19 were reported, bringing Britain's total death toll to 70,195, the second-worst death toll in Europe after Italy. Britain also reported more than 32,700 new cases of the disease on Christmas Day.
Fears about the U.K.'s new variant have sparked a week of border chaos. Around 1,000 British soldiers spent Christmas Day trying to clear a huge backlog of trucks stranded in southeast England after France briefly closed its border to the U.K. and demanded coronavirus tests from all drivers.
But Britain’s Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said Saturday that more than 15,000 drivers had been tested and that the backlog at a testing site at Manston Airport was cleared by Sunday morning. Only 36 positive tests had been reported, he said on Twitter.
“A massive THANK YOU to everyone who’s worked tirelessly over the past few days to reduce the huge disruption caused by the sudden French border closure,” Shapps tweeted.
The first cases of the U.K.'s new variant have now been detected in France and Spain. A French man living in England arrived in France on Dec. 19 and tested positive for the new variant Friday, the French public health agency said. He has no symptoms and is isolating at his home in the central city of Tours.
Meanwhile, health authorities in the Madrid region said they had confirmed the U.K. variant in four people, all of whom are in good health. Regional health chief Enrique Ruiz Escudero said the new strain had arrived when an infected person flew into Madrid’s airport.
In her annual Christmas address, Queen Elizabeth II, who has spent much of the year isolating at Windsor Castle with her husband Prince Philip, delivered a heartfelt message of hope praising the “indomitable spirit” of those who have risen “magnificently” to the challenges of the pandemic.
The 94-year-old queen and her 99-year-old husband Prince Philip were setting an example by not visiting relatives as usual over Christmas.
