Is Boris Johnson giving a lockdown announcement today? - Metro.co.uk

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will hold a press conference at 4pm today (Picture: PA/Getty)

Boris Johnson will hold a press conference this afternoon to discuss new measures to tackle the coronavirus crisis.

The Prime Minister will be joined by chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance and chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty for the Downing Street briefing at 4pm, following a meeting of his Cabinet earlier in the afternoon.

It follows reports the country could be heading towards a second national lockdown as early as next week amid concerns hospitals across England are on the verge of being overwhelmed.

Mr Johnson has so far resisted calls to implement a nationwide ‘circuit-breaker’ lockdown, opting instead for localised controls under the tier system.

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But reports on Saturday suggest the PM is now considering closing everything except essential shops and education settings for a month from Wednesday in order to try and contain spiralling infections.

A senior Government source told The Times ‘there has been a shift in our position’ after the latest tranche of data indicated that the virus is ‘rising all over the country and hospitals are struggling to cope’.

The new restrictions, which could see everything except essential shops and education settings closed, could come into force as early as Wednesday and remain in place until December 1.

Members of the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) have backed the introduction of more stringent measures.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will be joined by Sir Patrick Vallance (right) and Professor Chris Whitty (left) (Picture: Pippa Fowles/No10 Downing Street)

Professor Sir Jeremy Farrar said the consequences of sticking with the current ‘insufficient’ restrictions would be ‘much worse’ than going for a second lockdown.

The director of the Wellcome Trust said: ‘The sooner we act, the sooner we can start to recover. It will be a very difficult few weeks now and no one can underestimate the toll that will take on people.

‘But the consequences of sticking with the current insufficient restrictions would have been much worse.’

Sage member Professor 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.’

Professor John Edmunds said the only way to have a ‘relatively safe’ Christmas is to take ‘stringent’ action now to bring the incidence of the virus ‘right down’.

An NHS Covid-19 high alert level sign on a bus shelter in central London (Picture: PA)

A closure sign on retail store (Picture: Shutterstock/Maridav)

It comes after a senior Government scientific adviser said it is ‘definitely too late to think that the two-week circuit-breaker on its own will sort this out’.

They added: ‘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.’

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The adviser said the R number 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’.

A member of the bar staff pulls a pint in Leigh, Greater Manchester (Picture: AFP via Getty)

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, 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 October 16 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 three of the country’s new five-tier system from Monday.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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2020-10-31 13:04:00Z
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Met Office weather warnings UPDATED: Heavy rain and winds to batter UK as Storm Aiden hits - Daily Express

The Met Office also updated a second rain weather warning on Sunday.

The start and end times of the warning were changed and delayed based on new forecasts.

The area covered by the warning has also been extended eastwards, affecting parts of northern England.

The Met Office warning reads: "Outbreaks of rain will spread across the UK during Sunday with prolonged spells of heavy rain developing during the afternoon in many western areas.

"A further 0.8 to 1.2 inches (20mm to 30mm) rain is likely to occur quite widely with perhaps as much as 1.6 to two inches (40mm to 50mm) on high ground in northern parts of England and 2.4 to 3.5 inches (60mm to 90mm) over the higher ground in Wales.

"Following heavy rain in these areas during previous days, flooding impacts and disruption to transport is possible.

"Strong to gale force southwesterly winds are likely with potential for leaf fall to exacerbate flooding in places."

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2020-10-31 11:13:00Z
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Storm Aiden: Halloween weather warning in Northern Ireland - BBC News

The Department for Infrastructure says that short-term loss of power and other services is possible.

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2020-10-31 11:04:00Z
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Storm Aiden: Halloween weather warning in Northern Ireland - BBC News

The Department for Infrastructure says that short-term loss of power and other services is possible.

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2020-10-31 10:41:00Z
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Coronavirus: Boris Johnson considering lockdown for England as early as next week - Sky News

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Coronavirus: Boris Johnson considering lockdown for England as early as next week  Sky NewsView Full coverage on Google News
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2020-10-31 09:16:36Z
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Covid-19: England national lockdown 'considered', and 'millions face hardship' - BBC News

The prime minister is considering a month-long lockdown across England in the hope that measures could be eased before Christmas. A new "stay at home" order could be announced on Monday, with schools, colleges and universities exempt. One of the models suggests deaths could reach more than 4,000 a day. So, when will it all be over? And how are restrictions changing around the UK?

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2020-10-31 07:44:00Z
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Coronavirus: What you can and can't do this Halloween - Sky News

Coronavirus means Halloween will be very different across the UK this year.

Here's our guide to what you can and can't do and where you can do it - much depends on where you live.

Trick-or-treating is off-limits to anyone living under Tier 3 restrictions, which limit meetings in outdoor private spaces, including front gardens.

If you're in a Tier 1 area, you can trick-or-treat under the rule of six, meaning if you go and knock on someone's door, you can't go in if there are more than six people.

Under Tier 2, you can't socialise inside somebody's home, so you'd have to stand outside in order to trick-or-treat.

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The prime minister's official spokesman this week urged people to use their common sense.

• Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is in a four-week national lockdown, so indoor parties are out.

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Apple-bobbing is also banned, according to Dr Gerry Waldron, head of health protection at the Public Health Agency (PHA).

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Trick-or-treat? The rules on Halloween

He said: "We do not advise the tradition of bobbing for apples this year or going outside to trick-or-treat within the community. These are not safe practices this year (because) they increase the risk.

"Sharing of food and sweets can also spread the COVID-19 virus. Face-to-face interactions with older and vulnerable neighbours could put them at risk."

The official advice is to only celebrate with members of your own household this year, as households have been banned from mixing with a new set of guidelines set to be introduced on Monday.

There are additional measures in the central belt of Scotland, including the closure of pubs and restaurants.

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Halloween nightmare for deer stuck in pumpkin

Deputy First Minister John Swinney urged people to avoid activities "that make the spread of the virus more likely".

Guising, a Scottish form of trick-or-treating, in which children have to recite a song, poem or joke before being rewarded, falls into that category, he said.

"Going door to door, passing sweets, touching items others have touched, all of that gives the opportunity for COVID to spread.

"So this Halloween our advice is you should stay at home... Don't take risks for the sake of one night, it is really not worth it."

Coming in the middle of a 17-day lockdown, Halloween will look very different in Wales this year.

Meeting people from other households, either indoors or outdoors, is not allowed. So, no parties and no trick-or-treating.

People are only allowed to leave their homes for limited reasons, including for exercise, to obtain essential supplies, to provide care or medicine and to attend schools that reopen after half-term.

A government spokesman said: "We are asking people to stay home during the firebreak period to slow the spread of coronavirus and help save lives".

Public Health Wales has asked people to "not take part in traditional trick-or-treating which can put yourself and others at risk and breaches current guidelines which could incur a fine".

Image: Performers taking part in the annual Paisley Halloween Festival last year

• What else can I do?

Pumpkin picking is still on this year, provided social distancing is maintained.

Pubs may be open, depending on the area you live in, and while some of the big annual Halloween events have been cancelled, including the annual Paisley Halloween Festival, many will go ahead - but with COVID-secure measures in place.

Homeowners can help make trick-or-treating safer by leaving sweets on the doorstep and children by avoiding the homes of the elderly or unwell.

There is widespread acceptance that apple-bobbing is a bad idea during the pandemic wherever you live.

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2020-10-31 07:17:54Z
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