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Two cases of another new variant of coronavirus have been detected in the UK as more areas join Kent in Tier 4, the Health Secretary has announced.
Matt Hancock said in a Downing Street conference this afternoon they were close contacts of cases who had travelled from South Africa over the past few weeks.
He told how the UK was quarantining new cases and placing restrictions on travel from South Africa.
Those who have been to South Africa in the past two weeks and anyone who is a close contact of someone who has been in the country have been told to quarantine immediately.
It comes after a Tier 4 lockdown was announced for Kent at the weekend after existing Tier 3 measures proved unable to control the spread of a mutant coronavirus strain.
Mr Hancock said this afternoon more of the east and south east of England will be put into Tier 4 from 0.01am on Boxing Day.
These include Sussex, Oxfordshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, parts of Essex not in the highest tier, Waverley in Surrey and Hampshire.
Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Swindon, Isle of Wight, New Forest, Northamptonshire, Cheshire and Warrington will go into Tier 3.
Cornwall and Herefordshire will now go into Tier 2.
The mutant strain of coronavirus originated in a person from Kent, scientists believe.
Experts from New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag) have revealed today that the newly discovered, faster-spreading form of the illness originated in the county.
Elsewhere in the county, lorry drivers have clashed with police and blockaded the Port of Dover as tensions rise over testing soar.
The giant makeshift 4,000-capacity lorry park at Manston Airport is full.
Drivers stranded in the county since the border was shut on Sunday need to get tested before being allowed to cross the Channel.
Many have been stranded at the port due to fears over the "out of control" new coronavirus strain.
The ban was lifted last night but drivers must test negative at Manston Airport before they make the trip.
Thousands of lorries remain stranded in Kent and it could take days to clear the backlog - with one haulage boss declaring the situation an "humanitarian crisis".
