The Health Secretary joined Andrew Marr the day after Boris Johnson outlined a new fourth tier of restrictions. Tier 4 is designed to clamp down on a new mutation of the coronavirus that has been surging across the south east of England, and the news has wrought havoc on many families’ Christmas plans. Hancock told Marr that people should assume they were carrying the virus as a default:
MH: The new variant is out of control… and this news about the new variant has been an incredibly difficult end to frankly, an awful year. It’s important for everybody to essentially act like they might have the virus. That’s the way that we can control it together.
‘I’m really worried about the NHS’
Hancock cited the strain on hospitals as an imperative for the fresh restrictions:
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