A NEW Covid strain which may spread even quicker is ripping through the South – as Matt Hancock last night plunged 11million more Brits into Tier 3. The Health Secretary told MPs more than 1,000 cases of the new “variant” has been discovered in up to 60 places across the UK – and the World Health Organisation has been informed.London, parts of Essex and Hertfordshire, will move into Tier 3 from midnight tonight. It now means 34million people – 61 per cent of the population – will face the toughest rules. Brits in those areas can’t see friends and family they don’t live with indoors or outdoors – unless they are in a support bubble. But shops, gyms and schools will remain open. Pubs and restaurants will be forced to shut, except for takeaway and delivery. Mr Hancock last night urged Londoners to follow the example of Liverpool and Manchester to drive the virus down again. In a bombshell announcement, Mr Hancock said the mutation was spreading at a quicker pace than the original virus. But experts stressed that the new strain was not the cause of the tier changes. Mr Hancock said: “We have identified a new variant of coronavirus which may be associated with the faster spread in South East England. “It is growing faster than existing variants, with over 1,000 cases. He told the Commons: “Initial analysis suggests that this variant is growing faster than the existing variants.” There are over 60 areas affected, which is “growing rapidly” and similar strains have been identified in other countries, he said. He added: “We’ve seen very sharp exponential rises of the virus across London, Kent parts of Essex and Hertfordshire. “We must take fast and decisive action.” At last night’s press conference he said the “rise in transmission and this new variant should be a warning to all” that “personal responsibility” was needed going into Christmas. He warned: “Respect the rules where you are, don’t ease up on simple things. “When the virus is growing exponentially, there is not a moment to spare.” However, the Government insisted Covid rules will still be lifted for five days over Christmas. Mr Hancock begged everyone to reduce their social contacts in the next few weeks to crack down on cases. He also recommended Brits self-isolate as much as they can before seeing elderly or other vulnerable relatives over Christmas. He told the Downing Street press conference: “Be extremely careful now about who you see. That’s the way to see loved ones in a socially distanced way.” The new measures take the total number of people in Tier 3 in England to 34million, and he suggested more areas could be plunged into the highest tier later this week too. There are hopes some areas in the North could be downgraded to Tier 2, which currently covers 21.5million. He said: “This moment is a salutary warning for the whole country.”This isn’t over yet.” Professor Whitty insisted it was difficult to know if the new variant was spreading quicker or not – and that it would be “surprising but not impossible” it would not react to a vaccine. And he suggested the reason Tier 3 has not worked in areas like Kent was because London – where many people travel in and out for work – was still in Tier 2. He said there was no point in surrounding counties being in a higher tier than London while the captial’s cases are rising so quickly. However, he slapped down suggestions that the reason the Tiers were being ramped up was because of the new strain – and insisted that cases were rising across the board. The World Health Organsiation and Public Health England are continuing to look into the new killer strain. But there was no evidence to suggest the mutation is more deadly. Crucially, there is also no suggestion it cannot be beaten by the vaccine. TOP scientists have urged Brits not to panic over the new strain of Covid. Virus experts Prof Alan McNally and Dr Jeremy Farrar both played down the threat of the latest mutation. Prof McInally, from the University of Birmingham, said: “It is important to keep a calm and rational perspective on the strain as this is normal virus evolution and we expect new variants to come and go and emerge over time. “It’s too early to be worried or not by this new variant, but I am in awe of the surveillance efforts in the UK that allowed this to be picked up so fast.” Dr Farrar, from the Wellcome Trust, added: “This is to be expected. The pressure on the virus to evolve is increased by the fact that millions of people have now been inf Mr Hancock said: “It shows we’ve got to be vigilant and follow the rules and everyone needs to take personal responsibility not to spread this virus,” he said. He added that in some areas the doubling time of the number of new cases is as short as seven days. The strain was first detected in Kent last week – and it’s not yet known if it’s a home-grown mutation or has come in from abroad. And it’s understood that two weeks of lab testing is needed for experts to be completely sure that it will still be able to be tackled by the vaccine. Prof Jonathan Ball, Professor of Molecular Virology, University of Nottingham, said it was too early to draw any conclusions yet and stressed it could be by chance. He said: “The genetic information in many viruses can change very rapidly and sometimes these changes can benefit the virus – by allowing it to transmit more efficiently or to escape from vaccines or treatments – but many changes have no effect at all. “Even though a new genetic variant of the virus has emerged and is spreading in many parts of the UK and across the world, this can happen purely by chance. “Therefore, it is important that we study any genetic changes as they occur, to work out if they are affecting how the virus behaves, and until we have done that important work it is premature to make any claims about the potential impacts of virus mutation.” Alan McNally, a professor in microbial evolutionary genomics at the University of Birmingham, stressed that Brits should remain “calm and rational” following the news. He said: “Huge efforts are ongoing at characterising the variant and understanding its emergence. “It is important to keep a calm and rational perspective on the strain as this is normal virus evolution and we expect new variants to come and go and emerge over time. “It’s too early to be worried or not by this new variant, but I am in awe of the surveillance efforts in the UK that allowed this to be picked up so fast.” The decision to put the capital in Tier 3 came three days earlier than expected because ministers and officials were shocked by rising cases. ]Experts said the main driver behind the spike was Christmas shopping and increased socialising. Mr Hancock suggested Londoners should avoid Oxford Street and shop for their gifts online to help stop the spread of the virus. And he said travel to and within Tier 3 areas is discouraged. T]he Health sec said: “It is recommended that people should minimise travel unless it is necessary in a Tier 3 area and should minimise travel where it is necessary to a Tier 3 area.