BORIS Johnson is looking at bringing in new lockdown restrictions in England as soon as next week as coronavirus cases spread faster than the UK Government’s “worst-case scenario”.
The Prime Minister met senior Cabinet colleagues including the Chancellor and Health Secretary last night to discuss tightening restrictions, Whitehall sources confirmed.
The move comes after the UK Government insisted its current tiered approach to restrictions remained the right one. Wales is currently in the midst of a “firebreak” lockdown, while in mainland Europe countries like France and Germany have shifted back to national restrictions as cases continue to rise.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab had said ministers are “confident” the right measures are in place.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon issues full lockdown warning if five level rules not followed
A report in today’s Times newspaper said the Prime Minister could hold a press conference to make an announcement as soon as Monday – Number 10 has not yet issued a response to the claim.
The newspaper quoted a senior government source as saying while a final decision has not been made, “the data is really bad”.
"We're seeing Covid-19 rising all over the country and hospitals are struggling to cope. There has been a shift in our position," they said.
They reported that new restrictions could see everything besides nurseries, schools, universities and essential shops close until December 1.
It comes after the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) said there are now four times as many people catching Covid-19 in England than expected.
Scientists say by mid-October there were between 43,000 and 74,000 people being infected with Covid-19 in England every day – “significantly above the profile of the reasonable worst-case scenario”.
Just last month the scientific experts advising the UK Government on its pandemic response made the case for a short circuit-breaker lockdown. At the time there were around 5000 confirmed cases every day.
READ MORE: Covid Scotland: What each new lockdown level means for you
A senior scientific adviser to the UK Government told The Times: “It’s definitely too late to think that the two-week circuit breaker on its own would sort us out … It almost certainly would need to go on for longer.”
This week the Scottish Government announced which level of coronavirus restrictions each health board area will face from Monday under its new framework.
However following the announcement, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she could not rule out a Scotland-wide lockdown in the weeks ahead if cases continue to rise.
An announcement from Johnson on new lockdown restrictions would apply solely to England, as the devolved nations set their own coronavirus rules.
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