16 December 2020

Wednesday 16 December

2020-12-16

Events

 * London and other parts of south-east England enter Tier-3 anti-coronavirus restrictions today after a surge in the number of cases.
 * Speaking during Prime Minister's Questions, Boris Johnson urged people to “exercise extreme caution” while celebrating Christmas as he told MPs that the four UK nations have agreed to continue “in principle” with the easing of coronavirus restrictions over the festive period.
 * Germany enters a hard lockdown, closing schools and non-essential businesses in an attempt to stop a sharp rise in Covid-19 infections. The measures will be in place until 10 January.
 * EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said the first Covid vaccine would be authorised for use within a week. Ms von der Leyen told the European Parliament the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine - developed in Germany - would be rolled out for the bloc the same day, more than a week earlier than originally forecast.