A Government minister has played down reports that the Government is considering a two-week national lockdown as coronavirus cases continue to rise.
Health Minister Edward Argar denied the rumours, telling Sky News: "It is not something I have seen within the department."
He added: “The Prime Minister has been very clear on this. He doesn’t want to see another national lockdown. He wants to see people abiding by the regulations and making the local lockdowns work.”
With further lockdowns expected to be announced in North East England, Mr Argar said the region was seeing a spike in cases similar to that in the North West.
“In the North East we are seeing a spike in infections. It is exactly what we have seen in the North West. We monitor that rate. Where we need to, we step in and take action,” he said.
Mr Argar said that in the North West, the rise had been driven in part by people not adhering to the social distancing requirements.
“Obviously a nighttime economy will fuel that with people having been out late into the evening.”
Anthony Costello, a former director of maternal, child and adolescent health at the World Health Organisation (WHO), had claimed that England's chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty was recommending the two-week lockdown.
He posted on Twitter on Wednesday night: "I'm hearing from a well-connected person that government now thinks, in absence of testing, there are 38,000 infections per day.
"Chris Whitty is advising PM for a two week national lockdown."
But Mr Argar said: "We are guided by the science but we're not necessarily guided by the speculation in the press.
"It's not something I've heard from Chris.
"And it's something the prime minister clearly doesn't want to see."
