The Prime Minister Boris Johnson has updated the nation in a press conference with Professor Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance this evening, with the news that England is to go into a second lockdown next week.
Boris Johnson stated that "we've got to be humble in the face of nature. Unless we act we could see several thousand deaths a day."
From Thursday next week until the start of December people in England must stay at home, said the PM.
Exceptions include those attending education and work - if you cannot work from home such as the manufacturing industry. Non-essential shops and hospitality will all close apart from takeaway and delivery services.
Children will be allowed to move between homes if their parents are separated.
Vulnerable people will not be asked to shield, but those at high risk have been asked to minimise their contact with others as much as possible.
"No responsible Prime Minister can ignore the figures" he added.
The geographical spread of coronavirus in England was shown on graphs at the start of this evening's briefing, presenting a “significant rate of increase".
Chief Medical Officer for England Chris Whitty said that “the prevalence of this disease has been going up extremely rapidly over the last few weeks".
Prof Whitty added: "If we do nothing, the inevitable result will be that these numbers will go up and they will eventually exceed the peak we saw in spring of this year."
