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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Jedidajah Otte (now), Matthew Weaver (earlier)

UK coronavirus: Boris Johnson announces new lockdown in England from Thursday – live news

This from the BBC’s Nick Robinson:

And on this sombre note, I say goodnight and thanks for reading.

I’m going to wrap this blog up shortly, here an overview of tonight’s key developments:

  • As expected, Boris Johnson has announced what is effectively a second national lockdown in England, which will come into effect on Thursday 5 November and will last until 2 December,
    when the government will “seek to ease restrictions” and return to the 1-3 Tier system, Johnson said.
  • People may only leave home for specific reasons, including education, work, exercise, medical reasons, to escape injury or harm, and to meet with members of “exclusive” support bubbles from one other household if they live alone, for childcare purposes or to provide or receive vital support.
  • All non-essential shops, leisure and entertainment venues will be closed, though click and collect services will continue and essential shops will remain open.
  • Pubs, bars, restaurants must close, except for takeaway and delivery services, though pubs will not be allowed to sell alcohol for takeaway.
  • Schools, universities, courts, childcare providers and other public services will remain open.
  • People cannot travel internationally or within the UK, unless for work, education or other legally permitted exemptions. Overnight stays away from primary residences will not be allowed, except for specific exceptions including for work.
  • The Treasury’s furlough scheme, originally set to expire on 31 October, will be extended until the end of November with the same conditions.
  • Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has urged Scots not to travel to England, Wales or Northern Ireland.
  • Infections across the UK surpassed 1m infections on Saturday.
  • Chief medical officer Chris Whitty said that the country is currently recording around 50,000 new cases a day, and that this number is rising.

Updated

At the risk of ruining everyone’s evening even further, this from the Telegraph’s Michael Deacon:

The announcement of new nationwide coronavirus measures is “confusing” for West Yorkshire residents who had been preparing for Tier 3 restrictions on Monday, the leader of Bradford Council has said.

Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe said she had been assured there would not be a national lockdown during discussions with the government last week about West Yorkshire entering the very high level of coronavirus measures.

Following the announcement of new national measures by the prime minister on Saturday, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority said the area would no longer enter Tier 3 on Monday as planned, the PA reports.

Hinchcliffe said:

I asked the Secretary of State twice last week whether the country was going into national lockdown and was told firmly no.

This latest government announcement, coming only two days after the announcement that Bradford and West Yorkshire was to enter Tier 3 very high restrictions, will understandably therefore be confusing for residents and businesses alike.

All the Tier 3 regulations we briefed residents and businesses on on Friday are now irrelevant and we must wait for fresh information from government on Monday.

Just a couple of days ago government were impressing upon us, as leaders in West Yorkshire, that the health emergency was very urgent.

The new Tier 3 restrictions were therefore due to start Monday. Now we hear it’s going to be national restrictions from Thursday.

If it was urgent on Thursday, it’s certainly urgent today and I would therefore make a plea to all residents and businesses to be extra careful from now on, don’t wait until Thursday to exercise extra caution.

Shoppers walk at a near-deserted city centre in Leeds, Yorkshire on 31 October, 2020, as the number of cases of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 rises.
Shoppers walk at a near-deserted city centre in Leeds, Yorkshire on 31 October, 2020, as the number of cases of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 rises. Photograph: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images

On Thursday, it was announced the two million residents in Leeds, Bradford, Calderdale, Wakefield and Kirklees would be subject to Tier 3 restrictions from Monday, after local authorities agreed a financial support package from the government worth an additional 59.3 million.

Hinchcliffe urged residents to stay at home if they could, wash their hands and wear face coverings indoors ahead of the introduction of new measures next week, adding:

The infection rate is extremely high and our hospitals are getting an increasing number of admissions.

We are determined to work with our West Yorkshire partners to make sure we get the right support for our area so that we limit the damage these restrictions will cause for businesses and communities.

This from education secretary Gavin Williamson:

London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, has released a statement in response to Downing Street’s press conference tonight:

The new trading restrictions for pubs contain another caveat, my colleague Rob Davies reports:

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said:

Following today’s announcement by the prime minister we are also asking that people do not travel to England, or from England into Scotland unless absolutely essential, just as we are also asking people not to go to Northern Ireland or to Wales.

We know that these restrictions are difficult, but public health and preventing the spread of the virus must come first.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said that families are being forced to face a “grim winter” because the Government did not act decisively sooner.
She said:

The extension of the furlough scheme is long overdue and necessary, but ministers must do more to protect jobs and prevent poverty.

Furlough pay must never fall below the national minimum wage.

She stressed that a boost to Universal Credit is needed and that the government must not “abandon” the self-employed.

Here a few more details on some of the new or extended support measures from the Press Association:

Mortgage payment holidays will no longer end today as previously planned, the government announced.

Borrowers who have been financially hit by coronavirus and have not yet had a mortgage payment holiday will be entitled to a six-month holiday.

Those who have already started a mortgage payment holiday will be able to top up to six months without this being recorded on their credit file.

The Financial Conduct Authority is to set out more details on Monday.

Business grants worth up to £3000 are also to be made available for firms who have to shut in England due to local or national restrictions.

There is also £1.1bn that will go to local authorities for one-off payments to help them support businesses.

Updated

Travel firms have warned of a “complete shutdown” across the industry when England goes back into lockdown next week, the Press Association reports.

Travel and overnight stays in the UK and abroad will be restricted when the “stay home” instruction comes into effect nationwide again from Thursday.

According to government guidance issued on Saturday night, this includes staying in a second home, if you own one, or staying with anyone you do not live with or are in a support bubble with.

Mark Tanzer, chief executive of Abta, said the rules “will mean a complete shutdown for travel businesses which have already been severely damaged by the pandemic”, but added “public health must come first”.

The trade body Airlines UK said:

Aviation has been devastated by the pandemic, and has essentially never had the opportunity to recover.

[Measures] need to include immediate additional economic support for the winter and steps to support recovery, including urgent rollout of a testing regime, business rates relief for airports, and an emergency waiver of Air Passenger Duty that will be essential for enabling and stimulating international travel - absolutely vital for the UK economy - for as long as we are living with this virus.

Hundreds of thousands of jobs and our economic recovery are on the line.

Unsurprisingly, doctors and representatives from the medical realm have reacted favourably to the PM’s announcements.

Dr Rupert Beale, Group Leader at the Francis Crick Institute’s Cell Biology of Infection Laboratory said:

The decision to enter a second period of national lockdown is a painful one but clearly necessary. I urge everyone to obey the rules: this will ensure we spend the minimum time under these very restrictive and costly measures.

The prime minister mentioned the imminent arrival of new rapid tests. How effectively these are deployed, and how well our Test, Trace, Isolate and Support system can work will determine whether we will be able to avoid repeated lockdowns.

Dr Michael Head, senior research fellow in Global Health at the University of Southampton, said:

There’s over 11000 Covid-19 patients in NHS hospitals, with more than 1000 patients being admitted every day, and increasing numbers of healthcare staff off work with a positive Covid-19 test. That is simply not sustainable. With so much resource dedicated towards infection control, a health service overloaded with severely ill Covid-19 patients cannot also fully accommodate (for example) cancer and stroke patients.

Therefore, any intervention that reduces the burdens of Covid-19 is also good for other patients too.

These measures should have been announced several weeks ago. However, even at this stage, these newly-announce measures should help to provide some level of control the community transmission.

With any significant reduction in cases, the government simply has to use that ‘breathing space’ to fix the Serco-led contact tracing system. Control of this should be passed over to local health protection teams, ensuring that that more contacts of cases are reached, which will help to keep cases at a lower level and minimise the spread of new outbreaks.

Prof Jackie Cassell, deputy dean at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, was more reserved, saying:

The emphasis on what is needed to protect the NHS work - both Covid and non-Covid - was striking. The South West was mentioned specifically. It has a dispersed population and relatively small numbers of ITU beds, partly because much major elective surgery is done at a distance.

The NHS trade-offs are a huge driver for these decisions, with massive waiting lists in the system following the spring first wave and lockdown, as well as the huge mental health toll of lockdown.

It was good to see much more emphasis on this now both in the presentation, and the answers to press questions.

Dr Shaun Fitzgerald, Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professor at the University of Cambridge, said:

The numbers right now mean we need to go harder at breaking the transmission. This second lockdown is all about that – us, not the government, hitting it hard. None of us want this at all.

But there is no choice if we are to avoid letting thousands and thousands more die, and the health service swamped to an extent that even non-Covid patients are seriously affected.

Updated

The leader of the Liberal Democrats Sir Ed Davey called the government “an utter shambles”.

These were the thoughts of health secretary Matt Hancock on tonight’s announcements:

Updated

And it seems even Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister of Scotland, hasn’t been given the chance to fully wrap her head around the details of Downing Street’s extended furlough scheme:

This from the Sunday Times’ northern correspondent David Collins:

Ministers in Wales have questioned, like others, why chancellor Rishi Sunak refused previous requests for the furlough scheme to be extended.

This from First Minister Mark Drakeford:

Wales’ counsel general Jeremy Miles quoted Mr Sunak’s announcement that the scheme would be extended for a further month, covering 80% of employees’ wages, tweeting:

The boss of the Creative Industries Federation said the announcement of the new, month-long lockdown in England, would have “huge ramifications across the creative industries”.

Chief executive officer Caroline Norbury called for fair support measures for freelancers and the self-employed.

She said:

The temporary extension of the furloughing scheme will provide short-term relief for many. However, it remains vital that there is parity between those on payroll and the self-employed, including the many who continue to fall through the gaps of government support.

A third of the creative workforce is freelance, and many will see all of their work cancelled as a result of these new measures. They cannot be expected to live on 40% of their income or less, whilst colleagues on payroll receive 80%.

The suspension of the Universal Credit minimum income floor must also be extended beyond November, as more and more creative practitioners turn to that means of support as a vital lifeline.

We will be examining the detail of these restrictions and measures over the coming days, ensuring affected creative organisations in all parts of the UK are well-supported over the next month.

This from the Times’ Patrick Maguire on the willingness of Tory MPs to support the new lockdown in the Commons on Wednesday:

EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren has issued the following response to Boris Johnson’s lockdown plans:

Following the government’s sudden announcement today, easyJet will operate its planned schedule until Thursday and will be reviewing its flying programme over the lockdown period.

It is likely that much of the UK touching schedule will be cancelled during lockdown with our planned flying set to resume in early December.

We will advise customers who are booked to travel over the next month of their options with a view to assisting customers to return to the country in the coming days.

Given the steps the government has taken, which essentially prevents air travel in the UK, our call for sector specific support has never been more urgent.

The government has recognised the need to directly support the hospitality sector, where decisions have directly affected its ability to trade.

The same principle needs to be applied to aviation. The government’s own statistics show that activity in aviation is already 90% down on pre-pandemic levels, yet to date the government has still failed to provide any sector specific support.

Kim Conchie, chief executive of Cornwall Chamber of Commerce, told the PA news agency he was concerned about jobs given the furlough extension had been announced “so late in the day”.

I am worried for the ability of many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to continue fighting for survival.

I think people in Cornwall will be disappointed that we are paying the price for insouciance elsewhere but worried that our NHS provision has been mentioned nationally as the first place to come under pressure if cases rise.

Additionally, how on earth are businesses going to cope with Brexit a month later?

This from ITV’s Shehab Khan on the new rules for funerals and weddings:

This from my colleague Hannah Jane Parkinson:

Although the measures have been announced as fact tonight, they still need to be voted on by MPs on Wednesday.

There is much chatter about the possibility that Boris Johnson might struggle getting all his MPs onboard, as a number of Tory backbenchers are said to be furious, disappointed or not convinced by the scientific evidence supporting a second national lockdown.

This from the Times’ Matt Chorley/The Independent’s John Rentoul:

Updated

This is what the Press Association has on travel restrictions affecting people coming in and out of England:

The national lockdown for people in England prohibits day trips and holidays, as those are not among the specific reasons for leaving home such as attending school or going to the supermarket.

Travellers are not required to return from their trips early.
Airlines are responsible under consumer law to bring travellers home, but flight schedules will be slashed in response to the drop in demand, meaning many people will be forced to change their travel dates.

It is less than two weeks since the government removed the quarantine requirement for people returning from the Spanish islands.

This led to airlines putting on extra flights to cope with the surge in bookings.

The prime minister did not mention travel corridors in his Saturday night press conference, meaning people arriving from some areas are likely to continue being exempt from quarantine.
But the lockdown means the number of travellers will be diminished anyway.

If your flight is still going ahead and nothing has changed in your destination, you are not automatically entitled to a refund.
But many aircraft are likely to be grounded from Thursday due to the new restrictions, meaning people with existing bookings will be due a refund.

UK consumers are protected under European laws which state that they should receive full cash refunds within seven days for cancelled flights and 14 days for package holidays that do not take place.

But since the coronavirus outbreak many people have faced difficulties obtaining payouts from airlines and holiday firms.
That situation is likely to continue over the coming weeks.

Updated

Public compliance with the month-long lockdown is vital to help the NHS avoid facing the “impossible task” of trying to deal with the Covid resurgence at the same time as facing normal winter pressures, hospitals group NHS Providers said in response to Johnson’s announcement.

It also made clear that hospital bosses believe that the prime minister has been too slow to act, given the rapid increase in Covid hospitalisations in recent weeks.

“NHS trust leaders have been deeply worried about the prospect of a full Covid second surge coinciding with winter, when the NHS is at its most stretched. That’s why we have been arguing, for several weeks, that quick, decisive, clear action was needed to ensure the NHS had sufficient capacity to treat all patients, Covid and non-Covid alike, this winter”, said Chris Hopson, the group’s chief executive.

“So whilst we welcome this announcement, there are three key questions. Has it come quick enough? Will people comply so hospital Covid admissions reduce before the full impact of winter on the NHS arrives? And what is the strategy to avoid a permanent cycle of lockdowns?”

Hopson acknowledged that ministers had been grappling with “difficult decisions” and that the new restrictions would affect people’s freedoms, livelihoods and mental health.

But, he added, the public must adhere to the new rules or risk the health service being overwhelmed. “If we want to avoid giving the NHS an impossible task this winter, full public compliance with these new lockdown measures is vital. It will be for a public inquiry to determine whether, as with the first lockdown, these decisions have been sufficiently quick, clear and decisive.”

Remember that every winter, hospitals routinely end up between 95% and 100% full as a result of winter illnesses such as flu, pneumonia and other breathing problems. Given that 9,232 of England’s around 100,000 hospital beds are already occupied by people with Covid, the service has little if any room for manoeuvre.

Updated

Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labour party, tweeted this a short while ago:

Mike Cherry, national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), has joined the ranks of those demanding more clarity for business owners and workers in calling for a more comprehensive support package from the Treasury:

Today’s announcement, however necessary, will inevitably leave many small firms facing the bleakest winter they have ever seen and the second deep recession in 12 months. Urgent clarity is needed on how small businesses and the self-employed will be supported through this.

For the first wave lockdown, FSB encouraged the government to create financial support schemes for businesses based on three principles - to be as generous as possible, to as many as possible, and as swift as possible.

We will now need the government to match this scale of ambition, incorporating lessons learned from earlier this year - a second wave support package to offset the impact of a second wave of restrictions. This will help the country’s small businesses to make it through to the spring and be able to drive the recovery.

Owners and managers of hospitality businesses are scrambling to get more details on the new rules and support measures, questioning for instance whether 80% of wages will be subsidised by the government under the extended furlough scheme, as previously, or less.

Travellers meanwhile are wondering whether they can still leave the country, after it was reported that all international travel would be banned from Thursday except for work purposes, but then no further details were provided during the Downing Street press conference.

Updated

While people on social media have expressed relief about the news that people who live alone will be entitled to a support bubble with one other household, workers and representatives from the hospitality sector have reacted with shock and unadulterated anger to the announcement that they will have to shut shop again in a mere three days.

Nik Antona, the national chairman of the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra), said:

A second lockdown is a devastating blow for an industry that is currently on its knees.

Pubs have already invested thousands to reopen Covid-safe environments despite facing seriously reduced incomes. Simply put, the new lockdown couldn’t come at a worse time.

The government must introduce a robust support package for all pubs and breweries - regardless of their current rateable value.

While an extension to the furlough scheme is welcomed, it does not go far enough.

We need more details of how much support will be offered along with a clear road-map out of lockdown to ensure local jobs and businesses are not lost forever.

Emma McClarkin, the chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, said:

As a sector we are of course devastated to have to close our pubs and are fearful for their future, but we recognise the situation and that the spread of Covid-19 is serious.

Make no mistake, this could be the final straw for thousands of pubs and brewers. It will also create major disruption to our supply chain partners whose businesses are now also at severe risk.

The level of financial support will need to be the same, if not greater, than that provided for the first lockdown earlier this year. This means grants for all pubs sufficient to cover ongoing fixed costs, and compensation grants for Britain’s brewers who will also be permanently devastated by the lockdown.

The news of the extension of the full furlough scheme for this lockdown period is welcome, but we await the full detail of it, and will need a full support plan far beyond the lockdown period to save our great British pubs and brewers.

Updated

As was to be expected, reactions to Boris Johnson’s announcement of a second national lockdown in England – although carefully not described as such – range from unequivocal support to dismay.

Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, said of the news that the Treasury’s furlough scheme, which was set to end tonight, will be extended by another month: “But when we asked you to do that for the lowest-paid people in the north, you refused. People here will remember that.”

Richard Burge, the chief executive of the London Chamber of Commerce, said:

This is a lockdown like earlier this year, regardless of how it’s described, and the financial support given to businesses and workers must reflect that, as we are back firmly in business survival mode.

Details of the support package must accompany the restrictions when put before parliament next week. At face value, return of 80% furlough is welcome. Grants must also be made available. Rates must be reimbursed. Bank interest and charges should be suspended and they should be required to offer government-backed loans again. It is time for them to deliver the social obligation they are trying to avoid.

The government must also urgently provide clear evidence about how they are going to improve test and trace, so that we can break this cycle of lockdowns and restrictions. It does not have to be world beating, just simply good enough.

In London, this government standoff with the mayor has to end. There’s no excuse for politics getting in the way of the recovery of the nation’s most valuable economic asset. This isn’t about London being special, it’s about it being essential.

Updated

Evening, I’m taking over from my colleague Matthew and will be rounding up some reactions to the PM’s press conference.

You can reach me on Twitter @JedySays or via email.

This is not good news for grassroots sport. Gyms, swimming pools and sports clubs will all be stopped from operating from next Thursday.

While elite sport will continue as normal, exercise for everyone else will be limited to unlimited periods outdoors – either with people from their own households, or on a one-to-one basis with a person from another household.

I understand that discussions are continuing over whether people will still be allowed to play golf and tennis as the regulations are still to be drafted.

The situation is also a little unclear for kids’ sport. I am told there will be no exemption for under-18 indoor sport, but sport for under-18 team sport is undecided.

Updated

Summary

Here’s a summary of the key points.

  • Johnson said the virus is spreading even faster than the reasonable worst case scenario of the government’s scientific advisers. He added that unless the government acts, “we could see deaths running at several thousand a day … the over-running of the NHS would be a medical and a moral disaster … the virus is doubling faster than we can conceivably add capacity and so now is the time to take action, because there is no alternative.”
  • From Thursday 5 November people will be urged to stay at home again. You may only leave home for education, work that cannot be done at home, exercise, medical appointments, to shop for food and essentials, or provide care.
  • Non-essential shops, leisure and entertainment venues will all be closed. All pubs, cafes and restaurants are to close except for takeaways and deliveries.
  • Workplaces should stay open only where staff cannot work from home. This includes the construction and manufacturing sectors.
  • Shielding will not be reintroduced. If you’re clinically vulnerable or over the age of 60, you should be especially careful to follow the rules and minimise your contact with others, Johnson said.
  • The furlough system will be extended until December. Details have yet to be provided.
  • The measures will be loosened on a regional basis according to data at the time on the state of the virus. Regions are expected to then be placed in the existing three-tier system.
  • Schools, universities and colleges will remain open. Johnson said: “Our senior clinicians still advise that school is the best place for children to be. I urge parents to continue taking their children to school.”
  • The measures will be put to a Commons vote on Wednesday. If passed they will come into force on the morning of Thursday 5 November and be in place until 2 December.
  • Johnson promised a “massive expansion” in the deployment of quick turnaround tests. The army will help distribute tests.

Updated

Johnson closes the press conference with this:

I just repeat those three rays of sunshine from the scientific and medical advisers: the prospect of ever better drugs, the realistic prospect of a vaccine, and then the hopes and confidence I’m placing on rapid turnaround testing that we’re rolling out across the country.

But in the meantime, we have to put in place these tougher measures for now until 2 December across the country.

Updated

Q: Will there be restrictions in travel in the four nations of the UK?

Johnson says: “There’s quite a large degree of congruence between the whole of the UK.”

Updated

Q: How long would any extensions last? Is four weeks enough? Will the premier league stay running?

Johnson says yes to the premier league. He says the government will be led by the evidence on how long the restrictions will last.

Vallance says: “Four weeks with a really good reduction in the R value would make a big difference.”

Updated

Q: Will a month of lockdown be enough?

Johnson: “I think the local approach remains the right approach. That works so well if you have local buying, local support, local organisations. The problem was that we were seeing too many cases really taking off across the whole country.”

Whitty: “If we did not act now, then the chances of the NHS being in extraordinary trouble in December will be very very high.”

Updated

Q: Was your failure to follow Sage advice the wrong call?

Johnson says: “We have to balance that scientific advice with the consequences for people’s lives, people’s mental health, people’s livelihoods that comes from lockdown measures.

We’re not closing schools, it’s very, very important that we’re keeping schools open. We want to keep going. People, of course, should work from home, and we want to minimise contact. That’s the way to protect the NHS. I’m not going to pretend to you that these judgments aren’t incredibly difficult. We have to find the right balance.

Updated

Q: What took you so long to introduce national measures?

Johnson said: “This is a constant struggle and a balance that any government has to make between lives and livelihoods ... Alas it is absolutely vital to act now to protect our NHS and to save lives.”

Updated

Johnson ends his statement with this:

We’re not going back to the full-scale lockdown of March and April. The measures that I’ve outlined are far less primitive and less restrictive, though I’m afraid, from Thursday, the basic message is the same: stay at home, protect the NHS, and save lives.

Updated

Johnson promise a “massive” expansion in rapid turnaround tests.

He said: “We know from trials across the country, in schools and hospitals, that we can use these tests, not just to locate infections in people, but to drive down the disease.”

Updated

Furlough to continue

Johnson said: “We are going to extend the furlough system through November. We will extend further until December.”

He adds:

Christmas is going to be different this year, perhaps very different, but it’s my sincere hope and belief that by taking tough action, we can allow families across the country to be together.

Updated

Johnson says we must stay at home from next Thursday.

You must stay at home, you may only leave home for specific reasons, including education and work.

I’m afraid non-essential shops, leisure and entertainment venues will all be closed, though click and collect services will continue and essential shops will remain open.

Pubs, bars, restaurants must close, except for takeaway and delivery services.

Updated

Johnson warns that NHS will be overrun without new measures. “The virus is doubling faster than we can conceivably add capacity,” he says.

Updated

Johnson: 'unless we act we see will more deaths than in April'

Boris Johnson says “no one wants to be imposing these kinds of measures, anywhere”.

He concedes that the regional approach has not worked:

Our hope was that by strong local action, strong local leadership, we could get the rates of infection down where disease was surging, and address the problem thereby across the whole country.

As we’ve also seen from those charts, we’ve got to be humble in the face of nature. And in this country, alas, as across much of Europe, the virus is spreading even faster than the reasonable worst case scenario of our scientific advisers, whose models now suggests that unless we act we could see deaths in this country running at several thousand a day, a peak of mortality, alas, bigger than the one we saw in April.

Updated

Vallance says projection models show deaths will increase over the next six weeks if nothing is done.

He says the models show that peak usage of NHS beds will be exceeded on 20 November.

Updated

The chief scientific officer, Sir Patrick Vallance, takes over with a warning that the R rate continues to grow.

He said: “Although some of the measures are in place, the rate of growth is still growing.”

Updated

Whitty: “If we do nothing, the inevitable result will means these numbers will go up and they will eventually exceed the peak that we saw in spring of this year.

We now have several hospitals with more inpatients with Covid than we had during the peak in the spring.”

Whitty: there is significant rate of increase

Chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, starts with slides.

Across virtually the entire country now, there is a significant rate of increase.

Data from the Office National Statistics, which is the official data, shows that the prevalence of this disease has been going up extremely rapidly over the last few weeks.

We now have around 50,000 new cases a day, and that is rising.

Updated

Here we go, Johnson’s press conference is finally underway, two hours and 48 minutes later than first planned.

6.45pm has been and gone...

Tory backbenchers are fuming, according to the FT’s Jim Pickard.

Tick tock...

6.30pm has been and gone.

James Ramsbotham, chief executive of the North East England Chamber of Commerce, said any restrictions imposed on businesses must come with evidence of their expected effectiveness.

Government needs to speak honestly with the nation, setting out a clear plan, the evidence for its actions, and significant increases in the support available for businesses and employees facing the hardship of no demand or the crushing blow of closure.

Updated

British Chambers of Commerce director general Adam Marshall described the new restrictions as “a devastating blow” to business communities.

Market confidence has been “hit hard by the unclear, stop-start approach” taken by governments across the UK during the pandemic. Marshall said:

Many firms are in a much weaker position now than at the start of the pandemic, making it far more challenging to survive extended closures or demand restrictions.

The government must not squander the time afforded to them through another lockdown to enable mass testing and fix test and trace systems - which hold the key to a lasting exit strategy for both public health and the economy.

In the absence of the delayed press conference, PA has been briefed the key points. details. Our sources in the lobby have been told the same things:

People in England will be told to stay at home as the country is placed under another national lockdown on Thursday - with the closure of hospitality and non-essential shops.

Boris Johnson will announce the new restrictions - which are set to last until December 2 - at a press conference later on Saturday.

Pubs, bars and restaurants will close, though takeaways will be allowed, and all non-essential retail will be shut.

The restrictions will be similar to those introduced at the start of the pandemic in March, however this time schools and universities are expected to remain open.

People will still be able to exercise outdoors, and travel to work if they cannot work from home, though restrictions on international travel are likely to be introduced.

MPs will vote on the new measures before they are introduced at 00.01 on Thursday, and when they lapse, the current tier system will be reintroduced.

Johnson will be joined by Professor Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance in Downing Street at 6.30pm, following a meeting of his Cabinet earlier in the afternoon.

The introduction of national restrictions marks a dramatic shift in government policy, as the prime minister has until now resisted pressure to reintroduce nationwide restrictions.

Online shoppers are reporting problems accessing the website and app of the supermarket Sainsbury’s. Is this a sign of panic buying ahead of the restrictions?

The Guardian’s Laura Snapes said: “I figured now was a good time to book a click and collect order, and the website is buckling. I fully gave up.”

Others report similar problems.

Johnson called Keir Starmer to discuss the restrictions, according to Left Foot Forward’s Josiah Mortimer.

Almost three weeks ago Starmer backed Sage’s call for national “circuit breaker” lockdown of at least two weeks.

At the time Starmer said:

If we don’t, we could sleep-walk into a long and bleak winter. That choice is now for the prime minister to make. I urge him to do so.

In July Johnson described another lockdown as nuclear option.

He told the Sunday Telegraph:

It is like a nuclear deterrent, I certainly don’t want to use it. And nor do I think we will be in that position again.

This might be one of the reasons why Number 10 is so keen to avoid the term “lockdown” and is apparently opting for “tough new national measures” instead.

Updated

David Cameron’s former director of communications Craig Oliver urges us not to read too much into the delay.

But he ran a very different operation from the current incumbents.

Updated

Could a row between No 10 and the Treasury explain the delay?

Gary Lineker navigates the new BBC ban on tweeting any political view.

Boris Johnson’s pledge that the UK’s coronavirus testing capacity would reach 500,000 per day by the end of October will not be confirmed until Monday, PA reports.

A statement on the Department of Health’s coronavirus data dashboard said:

Please note: In line with our standard reporting procedure, capacity figures for Friday, Saturday and Sunday will be updated on the dashboard on Monday.

The latest data on the dashboard from Thursday shows that there is currently a capacity for 480,961 tests - with 347,626 tests actually being processed.

Updated

More tweets on Downing Street’s difficulty with timing:

Updated

PA reckons the Johnson press conference has been pushed back again. It is now expected at 6.30pm!

Updated

Members of the cabinet wanted to call the new lockdown “tier 4”, but were resisted by Downing Street, Sky’s Beth Rigby says.

Updated

There’s criticism from Labour about the way news of the new restrictions is leaking out.

Updated

A former Brexit party MEP, Jake Pugh, ponders this:

Updated

Johnson will describe the restrictions as “tough new national measures” rather than a lockdown, according to Robert Peston. (Good luck with that.)

Cases in UK pass 1m

The UK has now recorded more than 1m confirmed cases, Reuters reports, citing government figures.

“Between 31 January and 31 October 2020, there have been 1,011,660 people who have had a confirmed positive test result,” the government said.

Cases rose by 21,915 from the previous day. The death toll increased by 326.

The UK has become the second European country after Spain to pass the 1m cases milestone.

There is more on the UK figures here.

Updated

Sky’s Beth Rigby has also been given a briefing on what to expect.

She said:

I’ve been told that all of England is into tier four. It will mean that all pubs and restaurants have to close. All shops will close apart from non-essential retail, but as I understand it supermarkets will still be able to sell nonessential goods. There will be no mixing inside homes. In terms of what can continue: schools and universities and colleges all will remain open. Courts will remain open and parliament will remain open.

The idea would be that while we all go into tier 4 for a period of a few weeks. Then we come out of it back into other [existing] tiering system. So different parts of the country will be released from this tier 4 at different periods depending on where they are with the virus.

Updated

The lockdown sceptic Tory MP Steve Baker has just emerged from a meeting in Downing Street.

Updated

Report of 'tier 4' for England

ITV’s political editor Robert Peston marks our cards on 10 things we can expect from Johnson’s press conference.

We can all mark Peston’s card later.

Updated

A further 208 people who had tested positive for Covid have died in English hospitals, NHS England has announced.

The patients were aged between 26 and 101. The deaths occurred between 21 to 30 October.

NHS provided this regional breakdown of the fatalities:

East of England - 14

London - 20

Midlands - 36

North East & Yorkshire - 36

North West - 83

South East - 9

South West - 10

Updated

The Scottish government has reported 1,101 new infections and a further 24 deaths.

The daily number of cases is down from the ,1281 infections announced on Friday.

Updated

Northern Ireland has reported a further 649 infections, down from its record rise of more than 1,000 announced earlier this month. A further 11 deaths were also reported.

Wales, which is a week into its “fire break” lockdown, has reported another 1,301 new infections.

This is down from a record high of 1,414 announced on Wednesday.

Public Health Wales also announced that another 13 people had died from the virus, taking the death toll in Wales to 1,872.

Updated

Teaching union calls for schools to close

The National Education Union (NEU) has called for schools and colleges to be included in any lockdown.

The Union says schools should only remain open to vulnerable children and those of key workers during such a general closure period. Boris Johnson is expected to say that schools, universities and colleges should remain open in a four-week lockdown.

Kevin Courtney, the joint general secretary of the NEU, said:

It is clear from ONS data that schools are an engine for virus transmission. It would be self-defeating for the government to impose a national lockdown, whilst ignoring the role of schools as a major contributor to the spread of the virus.

Such a lockdown would impose pain on the whole community - but not be as effective as it could be if schools were included. Ignoring the role of schools and colleges in the spread of the virus is likely to lead to the need for even longer lockdowns in future.

The latest figures from the ONS estimate that 1% of primary pupils and 2% of secondary pupils have the virus and that these levels have increased dramatically since wider opening in September. NEU analysis of ONS figures shows that virus levels are now 9 times higher amongst primary pupils and an astonishing 50 times higher amongst secondary pupils.

The National Education Union called for a two week circuit break over half term to include schools, which the Wales Government and the Northern Ireland assembly have done - but the Government in Westminster has ignored this call. More severe measures are now called for as a result, the Government should not make this mistake again.

The government should include all schools in proposals for an immediate national lockdown and as a minimum be preparing for school rotas at the end of that period, including by actually meeting its promise to deliver broadband and equipment to those children who do not have them.

It is also vital that the government ensure proper financial support for all those affected by lockdown including crucial supply teachers and other staff.

Updated

Universities must move all non-essential teaching online if England goes into another national lockdown, a union has said.

The University and College Union (UCU) said it would be “incomprehensible” if teaching continued in person if England is put under tighter restrictions from next week as expected.

Figures put together by the union suggest that there have been more than 35,000 cases on campuses since term started last month.

The UCU general secretary, Jo Grady, said:

The health and safety of the country is being put at risk because of this government’s insistence that universities must continue with in-person teaching.

It would be incomprehensible if universities were allowed to continue to do this after the outbreaks we have seen on campuses across the country this term.

Ministers must tell universities to move all non-essential in-person teaching online as part of any national lockdown.

The union has been campaigning for a complete shift online for some time, and previously launched a petition demanding that the switch be made “where possible”.

It is thought that education settings will be told they can remain open if another lockdown is announced.

Updated

Local and regional and authorities across the UK are sending out different messages over Halloween celebrations tonight.

In some places, notably Scotland and tier 3 areas on England, trick-or-treating is being actively discouraged.

In other areas parents and children are being urged to respect their neighbours.

Updated

Prof Sir Simon Wessely, the director of King’s College London’s health protection research unit in emergency preparedness and response, says there is no right time for a lockdown.

He said:

Great harm results from not locking down, and great harm results from locking down. Either option is a dreadful one, and we should refrain from saying ‘I told you so’, and accept that lockdown is a political, and not solely a medical, decision.

The costs of a full lockdown are by now predictable – a further deterioration in mental health, greater and more long-lasting damage to people’s livelihoods and future prospects, especially if they are young, and further damage for those with other illnesses, both mental and physical.

Nor does it seem that our close neighbours have a magic formula that has somehow eluded us. All we can do now is support each other, which might include those who find it harder to comply with new restrictions at all times, and trust that, come the spring, there is more hope from either vaccines, an effective track-and-trace system, or sufficient (even if temporary) immunity, because otherwise this whole ghastly saga will repeat itself once more.

Updated

PA Media has a useful preview of today’s press conference:

Boris Johnson will host a press conference with his chief medical and scientific advisers on Saturday afternoon, amid speculation he will impose a national lockdown in England next week.

The prime minister is expected to be joined by Prof Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance in Downing Street at 5pm, following a meeting of his Cabinet earlier in the afternoon.

Johnson has so far resisted pressure to introduce nationwide restrictions, opting instead for a localised tier system, but he is reportedly considering closing everything except essential shops and education settings for a month from Wednesday.

The policy shift comes after new data showed the extent of cases across England. The Office for National Statistics estimated that 568,100 people in households were infected with coronavirus in the week ending 23 October.

Members of Sage have backed the introduction of more stringent measures.

The Sage member Prof Calum Semple told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “For the naysayers that don’t believe in a second wave, there is a second wave.

“And, unlike the first wave, where we had a national lockdown which protected huge swathes of society, this outbreak is now running riot across all age groups.”

Prof John Edmunds said the only way to have a “relatively safe” Christmas was to take “stringent” action now to bring the incidence of the virus “right down”.

It comes after a senior government scientific adviser said it was “definitely too late to think that the two-week circuit breaker on its own will sort this out”.

“It would bring it down a bit but it wouldn’t be enough to bring (the R value) right down. A two-week circuit breaker would have an effect but now almost certainly it would need to go on for longer to have a significant effect.”

They said the R value needs to be brought below one in many places to “get it down to levels that don’t run the risk of breaching health service capacity”, while in other regions the growth needs to flatten for that to happen.

The “longer you leave it”, they warned, “the more difficult it is to turn this around”.

The proposed restrictions have led to fresh calls for more financial help for affected businesses, on the day the furlough scheme closes and is replaced by the chancellor’s job support scheme (JSS).

Kate Nicholls, the chief executive of UK Hospitality, said a national lockdown would be “absolutely devastating” for the industry and called for the sector to receive “significant additional help in order to get through this”.

France and Germany announced national lockdown restrictions earlier this week, while in Northern Ireland pubs and restaurants were closed for four weeks starting on 16 October, with the exception of takeaways and deliveries. Schools were closed for two weeks.

Wales is currently under a “firebreak” lockdown, with leisure, hospitality and tourism businesses closed, and in Scotland the majority of people will be under level 3 of a new five-level system from Monday.

Updated

The Trades Union Congress has called on Johnson to extend 80% furlough wages which are due to end today.

Updated

The timing of the press conference has been put back until 5pm, lobby journalists have been told.

Updated

Welcome to a special Saturday edition of our UK coronavirus live blog as new lockdown measures are expected to be announced.

Boris Johnson is due to hold a press conference at 4pm, amid warnings that infections are “running riot”.

An announcement had reportedly been scheduled for Monday, but has been brought forward to today. Johnson appears to have bowed to pressure from his scientific advisers, after they warned him that local measures were no longer enough and that the virus could kill 85,000 people this winter.

Here’s what a new English lockdown could entail:

Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has already urged Scots not to travel to England.

Writing on Twitter she said: “People should not travel to or from level 3 areas in Scotland and for now, we are asking people not to travel to or from England at all, except for essential purposes.”

The Welsh first minister, Mark Drakeford, has his cabinet will meet on Sunday to “discuss any potential border issues for Wales in light of any announcement by No 10”. He also confirmed the firebreak lockdown in Wales would end on 9 November as planned.

Members of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), have welcomed the apparent U-turn by Johnson.

Sir Jeremy Farrar, the director of the Wellcome Trust, said new measures should be introduced as soon as possible.

He said:

This isn’t a decision any government would want to make. No one envies the job ministers have right now. The evidence is stark but this is still a very tough call and the government deserves credit for changing its approach in the light of a very fast-moving epidemic.

But some backbench Tories are anxious about the plan. Jon Redwood has called for a vote in the Commons.

Labour says Johnson should have acted sooner, when Sage and Labour called for a two-week “circuit breaker” over half term.

Updated

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