Tonight’s coronavirus press conference was very awkward for the government. It highlighted the bizarre tension between what is happening with the virus, and what ministers have decided is feasible in terms of measures to contain it.
While Matt Hancock and the government scientists set out the ‘exponential rises’ in cases in London, the emergence of a new variant of the virus which seems to be spreading rapidly, and the risks for the NHS in January and February, they were all unable to follow these bleak lines with anything other than a plea for people to choose to do as little as possible over Christmas.
On Wednesday, London and other parts of the South East will go into Tier 3 for a grand total of seven days before the capital decants many of its inhabitants across the country to see their families for Christmas. Hancock was repeatedly asked whether he would reconsider the Christmas amnesty given the rise in cases.
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