UK accused of reintroducing virus restrictions on the sly

The British government is facing accusations of introducing local lockdowns on the sly after it published new guidelines for eight areas in England that it says are hot spots for the coronavirus variant first identified in India

LONDON -- The British government faced accusations Tuesday that it was introducing local lockdowns on the sly after it published new guidelines for eight areas of England that it says are hot spots for the coronavirus variant first identified in India. Lawmakers and local public health officials have said they hadn't been made aware of the changes to travel and social interaction that the Conservative government published online last Friday. In that updated guidance, it recommended that people within the eight localities, which includes Hounslow in west London, the central city of Leicester and the northwest towns of Blackburn and Bolton, shouldn't meet up indoors or travel outside their areas unless it is for an essential matter, such as going to work. Blackburn’s director of public health Professor Dominic Harrison said in a tweet that local authority areas affected were “not consulted with, warned of, notified about, or alerted” to the instruction changes.