- The PM has announced a change in the law after the number of daily Covid cases rose to almost 3,000
- The ban will only apply to social gatherings, with those coming together for work or education still allowed
- Gatherings of more than six people also allowed where household or support bubbles larger than half a dozen
- Professor Chris Whitty, Sir Patrick Vallance and the Government all agreed that urgent action was needed
- Failure to comply could result in a £100 fine, which will then double on each repeat offence up to £3,200
Boris Johnson warned tonight that draconian new coronavirus restrictions could be here for months – as chief medical officer Chris Whitty pointed the finger at ‘Generation Z’ for sparking a surge in cases.
Addressing the nation at the first No10 press conference since July, the PM said the spike in infections seen over the past week left him no choice but to tighten lockdown across England for the first time since March. ‘We must act,’ he said.
He signalled that the ‘rule of six’ limit on how many people can socialise together will be in place for some time to come, after partying among the younger generation fuelled a sharp rise. Apart from a vaccine, he said the only other way out before Christmas was a ‘moonshot’ of introducing mass daily testing for everyone, but admitted that would require ‘everything to come together’.
In a direct plea to young people, Mr Johnson said that they should consider their behaviour ‘for the sake of your parents’ and your grandparents’ health’.
Slides presented at the press conference tonight show that younger people are driving the increase in Covid cases
Prof Whitty said the numbers of coronavirus case have been increasing ‘much more rapidly’ over the past few days. While the numbers among older people and children remained ‘flat’, in other age groups there were ‘rapid upticks’.
He said among 17 to 18 year-olds and 19 to 21 year-olds the numbers had gone up ‘really quite steeply’ since mid August. He said that data suggested that without action Britain would be on a path ‘extremely similar’ to France where the numbers have continued to rise – cautioning that the situation was likely to be perilous all the way through to Spring.
Government sources have voiced gloom about a ‘difficult six months’ to come. One official cautioned that it was not a scenario of ‘a couple of weeks and we’re back to where we were’, saying the R number was ‘clearly above one’.
From Monday it will be illegal to assemble in groups of seven or more anywhere in England, whether indoors or out.
The limit – sparked by concern that partying young people are fuelling a flare-up – is a dramatic reduction on the maximum of 30 put in place on July 4. It will be enforced by police with £100 fines, doubling on each repeat offence up to £3,200. Only schools, workplaces and a limited number of other locations will be exempt.
Pubs and restaurants will also be legally obliged to collect contact tracing information from customers. Before they were only asked to in government guidance. And Mr Johnson said the government was having to ‘revise and review’ the return of theatres and stadium events, with sports matches facing a 1,000 ceiling on attendance.
Mr Johnson said he was ‘sorry’ that larger households would not be able to meet up, as they would be above the six-person threshold. ‘But as your PM I must do what it takes to stop the spread of the virus.’
On another dramatic day on the coronavirus crisis:
- The UK has announced 2,659 more coronavirus cases and eight deaths as Boris Johnson announces people must ‘limit social contact’ again to curb the coronavirus amid rising infections;
- Oxford and AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine trial has been put on hold for safety reasons after a British volunteer had a ‘serious’ reaction that could have been caused by injection
- Business leaders, MPs and scientists told the Prime Minister not to lock Britain down again, with one think-tank warning a second shutdown would be ‘catastrophic’.
- Health bosses apologised for testing system failures after laboratory backlogs left many people unable to book;
Graph shows distribution of people testing positive for Covid-19
The PM told the House of Commons that the spike in infections seen over the past week left him no choice but to act