A new strain of COVID-19 has New Zealand public health experts calling for stricter border controls, as the UK faces Christmas in lockdown. 

Preparing for Christmas in New Zealand is very different to the preparations happening overseas with even more parts of England given notice that they're going back into a strict lockdown.

The news has public health experts in Aotearoa repeating calls for more focus on our borders and who we let travel to them.

Professor Michael Baker told Newshub it's "tough" to keep the virus out.

"This change [in the virus] is just going to make it tougher, and so I do think we need to take additional steps in New Zealand as many countries are doing and that is to reduce the flow of infected people from countries where this virus is established."

The UK has reported another new record of daily case numbers - more than 39,000 and 744 deaths - the highest since April. 

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But even more worrying is the detection of a strain of COVID-19 that has come from South Africa where cases have already risen by 57 percent in the last week. 

"This new variant is highly concerning because it is yet more transmissible, and it appears to have mutated further than the new variant that has been discovered in the UK," said Hancock. 

While in the US there have been more than 19,000 COVID deaths in a single week -  the deadliest since the pandemic began. 

The National Party's spokesman for COVID-19 response says the Government needs to introduce the 'traffic light' system that's been recommended by Professor Michael Baker.

"Greater scrutiny for people from higher-risk countries, and that means countries like the United States, United Kingdom, where there's greater scrutiny, pre-departure testing," Chris Bishop told Newshub.  

The Ministry of Health says it is closely monitoring the global COVID-19 situation and will review its border tools in light of any new evidence.

But this Christmas New Zealanders can feel very lucky because other countries are preparing for the worst of the pandemic all over again.