Coronavirus news: Pubs reportedly face closure in new regional England lockdown

See how we covered Wednesday’s events live

MPs vote in favour of 'rule of six' regulations in England

Ministers are reportedly considering closing pubs and restaurants in regions of England, as part of moves to simplify lockdown rules with a three-tier system. The Independent previously reported on leaked documents revealing the plans in the works.

The reports by the Financial Times and BBC follow Nicola Sturgeon’s ban on pubs and restaurants in much of Scotland selling alcohol indoors for more than two weeks.

Scotland’s first minister insisted that the new measures were not a return to lockdown but she acknowledged the restrictions would “feel like a backward step” for many people.

The potential for drastic action to contain a second wave comes as Sir Simon Stevens, the head of NHS England, warned of a “disturbing” rise in hospital admissions of Covid-19 patients.

He told a virtual conference of NHS leaders: “Speaking frankly there are disturbing signs that infection rates from coronavirus are, again, rising. They are clearly headed in the wrong direction, not just nationally, but particularly in some regions and local areas across the country.  

“At the start of September, we had under 500 coronavirus inpatients in hospitals across England. That is now nearly 3000. And we know that hospital admissions lag community infection by several weeks.”

Key Points

• New lockdowns loom in England with pubs facing closure
• Pubs in Scotland barred from selling alcohol for more than two weeks
• Second wave of infections rising ‘quite sharply’ among over-60s, Hancock warns
• Coronavirus tests hit by delay in Roche supply chain
• Daily hospital admissions jump by nearly 25 per cent in England

[7 October 2020 11:57 · Conrad Duncan]

Brussels to close all bars and ban drinking alcohol in public places

Brussels is set to close all bars and coffee shops, and ban the consumption of alcohol in public places in an attempt to slow the spread of coronavirus, according to Euronews.

The measures in the Belgian capital are expected to apply for at least a month.

[7 October 2020 12:16 · Samuel Osborne]

Iran hits record number of daily coronavirus deaths

Iranian state TV says the country has hit a record number of daily deaths from the coronavirus, with 239 new fatalities. 

[7 October 2020 12:25 · Samuel Osborne]

Coronavirus infections rising in London, Boris Johnson says

Boris Johnson has said Covid-19 infections were rising in London and elsewhere, but his government's approach to controlling the spread of the virus was still the right one.

"The local and regional approach combined with the national measures remains correct," the prime minister told parliament during prime minister’s questions, when asked why infections continued to rise in areas where local lockdown measures have been put in place. 

[7 October 2020 12:30 · Samuel Osborne]

Keir Starmer demands government publish science behind 10pm curfew ahead of vote

Keir Starmer has demanded that the government publish the scientific basis for the 10pm pub curfew or review the policy, in the clearest hint yet that Labour may not back its continuation in a vote next week.

Political editor Andrew Woodcock has the full story:

[7 October 2020 12:48 · Samuel Osborne]

Transport minister to make announcement on coronavirus testing at airports

The transport minister, Grant Shapps, has said he will make an announcement later today regarding Covid-19 testing at airports which could lead to the UK's 14-day quarantine period for travellers being shortened.

“I will be making the announcement later today to parliament but it involves a task force,” he said. “So looking at the systems which would enable us to have testing.”

[7 October 2020 12:56 · Samuel Osborne]

‘A disaster from start to finish’: Exasperation reigns in England’s new coronavirus capital

Colin Drury speaks to residents of Fallowfield in Manchester, country’s worst-hit area in country after arrival of thousands of students:

[7 October 2020 13:10 · Conrad Duncan]

Johnson warned over lengthy wait for testing facility in university town

Boris Johnson has been warned about the long wait for a university town’s testing facility, which is not expected to open until the end of the month despite students returning in September.

Labour's Matt Western, MP for Warwick and Leamington, told the Commons: “Across the UK our universities are struggling to contain the coronavirus with some 5,000 cases reported in recent weeks.

“Our communities deserve better and more local and immediate access to testing facilities, but in Leamington I'm told Deloitte will not deliver on their testing facility until the end of this month - some four weeks after 7,000 students will have arrived back in the town of Leamington.

“Was the government not expecting students to return to university?”

Mr Johnson replied by thanking the “overwhelming majority” of students for complying with Covid-19 guidance and rules, adding: “Clearly there are particular problems in some parts of the country which we've discussed at length already, and we'll be pursuing the measures we've outlined to bring them down in those areas.”

[7 October 2020 13:18 · Conrad Duncan]

Second wave of infections rising ‘quite sharply’ among over-60s, Hancock warns

The second wave of coronavirus infections is spreading “quite sharply” into the over-60 group where the risk of serious illness or death is higher, Matt Hancock has warned.

The health secretary said he believed that the mortality rate of coronavirus patients this winter would be lower than in the first wave in the spring, because of better treatments, but warned against relaxing or removing restrictions.

Our political editor, Andrew Woodcock, has the full story below:

[7 October 2020 13:29 · Conrad Duncan]

Nearly one in five state secondary schools not fully open, government figures show

Nearly one in five state secondary schools were not fully open last week, with many closed due to coronavirus-related reasons, according to the Department for Education.

Geoff Barton from the Association for School and College Leaders (ASCL) said the figures reflected “the extremely tough circumstances in which schools are operating due to the impact of Covid”.

Our reporter, Zoe Tidman, has the full story below:

[7 October 2020 13:40 · Conrad Duncan]

Government buys one million antibody tests despite ‘lack of evidence’ of accuracy

The government is to buy one million home antibody tests from a group of British companies, despite concerns over “a lack of evidence” for their accuracy.

Ministers have been accused of “jumping the gun” by purchasing the finger-prick kits, developed by the UK Rapid Test Consortium, which will be rolled out across the UK to help understand how far Covid-19 has spread.

Our reporter, Chris Baynes, has the full story below: