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LONDON (AP) — The British government on Wednesday extended its toughest coronavirus restrictions to three-quarters of England’s population, saying a fast-spreading new variant of the virus has reached most of the country. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the government’s top infection-warning level, Tier 4, would be expanded beyond London and the southeast to cover large swaths of central, northern and southwest England. Under Tier 4, people are advised to stay home, mixing of households is prohibited, nonessential shops are shut and restaurants and bars can only offer takeout.

I remember seeing commercials for this adaptation of the Thomas Hardy classic, if me memory was right, on CBS. I thought it quite weird at the time that one of the the major broadcasters would even put a Brit period drama on a primetime slot when that was the exclusive purview of PBS. The novel does have a special place in my soul. When I first read it 30 years ago, I was awestruck by Hardy's introduction of the raven haired bewitching beauty Eustacia Vye. I have never read anything since that is as romantic and dramatic of an introduction...

(Thoughts from the UK...) The country this year which has been most ravaged by Covid-19 – losing a shocking 1,600 people in every million to the virus at the time of writing – is Belgium. That might come as something of a surprise. You could be forgiven for thinking it was America, thanks to Trump’s alleged ignorance of science. Or what about Britain, which locked down ‘too late’ because of its government’s short-lived but foolish belief in freedom? Or Brazil, whose right-wing leader complained that lockdowns and masks were for ‘fags’? If not those, then surely Sweden, where there has...

Professor Neil Ferguson, an epidemiologist who played a key role in convincing the British government to adopt lockdowns, revealed that the country’s lockdowns were meant to emulate those carried out by the Chinese Communist Party – modeled to strip civil liberties and exert authoritarian control over citizens. In Ferguson’s recent interview with The Times, he revealed that lockdowns he championed as part of Britain’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) Board, were rooted in those carried out by the Chinese Communist Party. Dubbed “Professor Lockdown” by many for his contributions to swaying the British government to adopt stringent lockdown measures,...

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) on Thursday issued a new guidance requiring travelers flying from the United Kingdom to the United States to provide a negative Wuhan coronavirus test. The new requirement is set to go into effect on Monday.According to the Associated Press, airline passengers must provide a negative COVID-19 test within three days of their trip. The results have to be provided directly to the airline."Airlines must confirm the negative test result for all passengers before they board," the CDC said in a statement. "If a passenger chooses not to take a test, the airline must deny...

In “Bridgerton,” the new Shonda Rhimes period drama on Netflix, the lords and ladies of early 19th century Britain are depicted as Black as well as White. Why? Washington Post television critic Hank Stuever explains it this way: “A Black character stops to explain, grandly, how and why this society came to be integrated. (Answer: because the queen is a person of color.) Not only does it not make much sense, but it seems like an unnecessary wrench thrown into a completely sensible and revisionary romp: People of color are here because they should have been here all along. Isn’t...

Just when we thought there was cause for hope in the Covid-19 vaccines, we’ve hit a wall. Christmas is off and we might all be locked down for months longer. In reality, the vaccines, even once proved to be safe and efficacious, had little chance of impacting the virus this winter. Production, distribution and application to all of those in need in such a short timeframe was never feasible. However, an increasing drift towards some sort of normality by the spring appeared possible. The UK government’s decision to introduce tier four lockdown restrictions across London and much of the south...

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II delivers her annual address in the Christmas Message to the Nation and Commonwealth.

Britain and the European Union struck a hard-fought trade agreement on Thursday, settling a bitter divorce that stretched over more than four years and setting the terms for a post-Brexit future as close neighbors living apart, according to British officials. The deal, which must be ratified by the British and European Parliaments, came together in Brussels after 11 months of grinding negotiations, culminating in a last-minute haggle over fishing rights that stretched into Christmas Eve, just a week before a year-end deadline. Despite running to thousands of pages, the agreement leaves critical parts of the relationship to be worked out...

The new strain of the CCP virus that emerged in the UK spreads over 50 percent faster and could make up nine out of 10 cases in the southeast of England by mid-January, according to a preliminary study.The study (pdf), by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, used mathematical modeling to project the spread of the new strain in the southeast quarter of the country where it is already beginning to dominate.“We estimate the transmission rate of this variant is 50-74 percent higher than existing variants,” said study author Dr. Nick Davies.Echoing comments made by government scientists, he...

A new mutant strain of COVID-19 that has been dubbed “501.V2” has gotten completely out of control in South Africa, and authorities are telling us that it is an even bigger threat than the “Super COVID” that has been causing so much panic in the United Kingdom. Of course viruses mutate all the time, and so it isn’t a surprise that COVID-19 has been mutating. But mutations can become a major issue when they fundamentally alter the way that a virus affects humans, and we are being told that “501.V2” is much more transmissible than previous versions of COVID and...

With news of a second strain in the UK that has shuttered London, U.S. leaders are starting to take precautions. Experts predict that the second variant of the virus is reportedly 70 percent more transmissible than the original strain. "We will have a new approach, given the new strain we're seeing there," New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) said in a press conference on Wednesday.

Professor Neil Ferguson has been confirmed to be advising Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government on coronavirus, despite officially resigning in May for breaching his own lockdown restrictions to meet with his married lover. On Monday, the British government confirmed to The Telegraph that Professor Ferguson is still advising the government after his name appeared on a list for a meeting of 15 members of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag) on December 18th. The Nervtag meeting attended by Ferguson concluded that a supposedly new variant of the Chinese coronavirus — which is believed to have been...

The new strain of COVID-19 is out of control and people need to behave as if they already have the virus, especially in the new Tier 4 areas of England, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has warned.

On December 20, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced an unprecedented Tier-4 lockdown due to a new strain of COVID-19. This will increase the rules for the Christmas holiday and completely shut down some areas of the country. Travel restrictions are in place inside the U.K., yet international travel has not been restricted from other areas.The purported reason: This new strain of COVID-19, discovered in September, is 70% more contagious than the previous version of the virus. According to Sky News:The action was prompted by the government’s fears over a new strain of coronavirus – known as VUI 2020/01 –...

Dr. Anthony Fauci said the new mutation of COVID-19 that has spread across the UK is likely already in the US — and may even have originated here, according to a top virologist — but does not appear to affect the “protective nature” of the vaccines being used. “When you see something that is pretty prevalent in a place like the UK — there are also mutations that we’re seeing in South Africa — and given the travel throughout the world, I would not be surprised if it is already here,” Fauci told PBS Newshour’s Judy Woodruff.

Bonnets, big houses and brooding heroes: a good period drama is the ultimate comfort watch, a lovely balm for our “poor nerves” - as Mrs Bennet from Pride and Prejudice would probably put it - that’s particularly soothing when the world seems uncertain and strange. From compulsive Sunday night viewing like Downton Abbey and Poldark to Oscar-baiting classics like Sense and Sensibility and A Room With A View, these are our all-time favourites...

U.S. Army scientists are analyzing a new COVID-19 strain found in the United Kingdom and investigating if the current vaccines are sufficient to fight it. Scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research last week began analyzing data to determine the extent of the new mutated variant's danger and to try and determine if the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines will fight off the strain."It stands to reason that this mutation isn't a threat, but you never know," Nelson Michael, a doctor at the Center for Infectious Diseases Research at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, told CNN. "We...

Lorry drivers stranded in Kent are being slapped with parking tickets as the M20 closes overnight with nearly 1,000 trucks parked along it. France's decision to close its border with Britain led to a day of chaos on Kent's roads, as lorry drivers were filmed blasting their horns at the Port of Dover in frustration - and another crashed into a car as it made a desperate bid to get into a lorry park. There is no end in sight either, with France not expected to announce a decision until tomorrow, despite ongoing talks with Britain. At 8pm tonight Highways...

Dr. Anthony Fauci, National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director, is warning against “overreacting” to a mutated strain of coronavirus spreading in parts of the United Kingdom and does not yet want restrictions on flights to and from the country. In a Monday interview with CNN, Fauci, who also serves as a member of the White House coronavirus task force, said that the United States should “without a doubt keep an eye” on the new strain, but “we don’t want to overreact.”