In his 16:00 presser Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that London, the South East and East of England will enter a new tier four level of restrictions from Sunday morning.

These restrictions will largely mirror the national restrictions which were introduced in England in November.

Residents in those areas must stay at home, with few exceptions. Non-essential retails and indoors gyms must close. Communal worship may continue.

Citizens in tiers one, two and three, will now be limited to mix up to 3 households on Christmas Day only as opposed to the 5 days permitted before this announcement.

Christmas bubbles for those in tiers one to three will not be able include anyone in tier four.

This comes after the discovery of a new strain of the COVID-19 virus. The PM said the spread of the virus in many parts of south-east England is now “being driven by the new variant of the virus”. He reiterated however that no evidence that it caused more severe illness or higher mortality was found.

The restrictions will last for two weeks and will be reviewed on 30 December.