A0 days after the election. And the congressman from texas who is starring in his own actionman movie to save the two senate seats in georgia as if there is nothing else to be doing right now. Hello, im katty kay in washington. Christian fraser is in london. It is a good day here in the United States because americans are receiving their first shots of the Pfizer Vaccine. But we would be remiss in not pointing out that on the very same day, the covid death toll here has reached 300,000. It is a sobering reminder of the hill we still have to climb to get out of this pandemic. Here in the uk, where the Pfizer Vaccine was rolled out last week, the roller coaster journey continues. London is returning to tier 3, with much tighter restrictions, less than two weeks before christmas. There is also news from the Health Secretary that they have discovered a new strain of coronavirus, which may be associated with the much faster spread in the south east of england. Heres matt hancock and england
About the impact the relaxation of restrictions across the Christmas Period might have. Before that, though, he explained whats known so far about a new variant thats been linked to rising cases in southern england. In terms of the new variant, the reason this has been picked up is because there is a good Surveillance System in the uk, wider than in many other countries, and it does appear to be in an area of the country, particularly kent and bits of london, which are increasing rapidly. We do not know whats cause and effect. Is it getting more frequent because it is in a part of the country at which the rate of increase is going faster anyway, and therefore inevitably it is a higher proportion, or is it that this virus itself is possible to transmit more easily . That isnt really yet clear. There are two other things you always want to worry about with a new variant. The first one is. Three things, actually. The first one is is there any evidence this is actually more dangerous . And
Facemasks more the uk but that is something. But apparently, the Health Secretary braced for an outbreak. The test being taken are precautionary measures and obviously, it was inevitable. There must be some coming back from the pa rt must be some coming back from the part of the world carrying this virus. The number of people. But to stop people from travelling at this time of the year in china is quite. It is really major. It is the biggest event in the calendar there, the biggest period of time for travel in china. People going to the provinces and travelling around the world as well. Ministers, ministers of facing criticism for not monitoring people arriving into the enough and that is in that we hear more often in the coming days. Yesterday, as i understand it, and when coming from that part of the world was given a form and saying, they were not carrying out tests bow other countries to carry out tests and the usa was one of them. So, maybe we missed a trick there. But the test re
And at 11 30pm, well be taking an in depth look at the papers with our reviewers, kate proctor from the guardian, and the broadcaster, John Stapleton. Stay with us for that. Good evening. Welcome to bbc news. The Prime Minister says hes confident the country can defeat the coronavirus as long as everyone takes seriously the governments restrictions and instructions on how to live our lives for the next few months. Borisjohnson said he thought it would take 12 weeks to turn the tide on the virus in the uk. But he said that depended on the public following government advice social distancing, working from home where possible, and washing our hands. Today, the bank of england slashed Interest Rates to an historic low to try to shore up the economy. The number of confirmed cases in the uk rose to 3,269 today, and the death toll now stands at 144. And there was a message today from the queen. She praised the work of scientists, medical staff and the emergency services, saying the uk was ent
Coronavirus can be beaten within 12 weeks. As does the metro, which says borisjohnson is confident we can turn the tide if britons follow government advice. The times shows the queen as she left Buckingham Palace earlier for windsor reiterating her call for britain to be strong in the face of this crisis. The daily mirror too shows the queen adding quoting her majesty with the headline our history as been forged by people coming together. the guardians front page says trials for a Coronavirus Vaccine could begin next month. The Financial Times focusses on the chancellors plans to help businesses as rishi sunak looks set to deliver a new rescue package to companies. And the independent shows a glimmer of hope as medical workers in china embrace celebrating a day without any new cases of covid i9. Let us begin the papers are looking at latest developments and the daily express, that is where we will start, boris, we can turn the tide ini2 start, boris, we can turn the tide in 12 weeks an