London will be placed into a strict English Tier 3 coronavirus lockdown at midnight on Wednesday, MPs have been told.
UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock gave a briefing to London MPs to confirm the move hours after they were warned cases are rising exponentially in the capital.
Pubs, cafes and restaurants for more than 9 million people in London and parts of the south east area will shut and provide a take-away service only just weeks after re-opening after an England-wide lockdown in November.
The announcement was brought forward from Wednesday after MPs were warned coronavirus cases in London are now “off the chart”.
London hit 225 new cases per 100,000 in the seven days to December 8, up every day since a lockdown low of 155 per 100,000 on November 26.
An estimated 4,710 people in London tested on December 11 came back positive for Covid-19, almost double the 2,402 on December 6.
Kent is currently the only large part of southern England in Tier 3, with the capital still in Tier 2 which allows pubs to remain open.
A move to Tier 3 will see almost 14,000 pubs, bars, restaurants and cafes in London forced to close or be restricted to takeaway services.
But in Tier 3, shops will remain open, despite concerns raised about packed streets in the run-up to Christmas.
Most of the 23 million people in England in Tier 3 are in the Midlands and northern England.
But MPs were told there is exponential growth of Covid-19 in London and cases are also rising in places just beyond its borders.
London mayor Sadiq Khan has urged the Government to consider shutting all secondary schools and colleges early ahead of Christmas.
Some councils have decided to close down schools and moved to online learning ahead of the Christmas holiday.
But the PM’s spokesman said: “We expect schools to be open to the end of term”.
