Coronavirus news: UK records over 12,800 new cases in highest-ever rise, amid hopes for vaccine by Easter

Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s up-to-the-minute coverage of all the latest coronavirus news from across the UK.

Boris Johnson blames rising coronavirus infection rate on UK’s ‘fraying discipline’

Boris Johnson has blamed the recent rise in coronavirus infections on public complacency rather than the government’s failure to test, saying that discipline on social distancing and hygiene measures had “frayed” over the summer.

The prime minister accepted that some people had had “bad experiences” with the test and trace system set up by the government to keep the Covid-19 virus under control, and said he wanted to apologise for that.

But he suggested that responsibility for the sharp uplift in cases over the past month lay with the general public, who had lost the “muscle memory” of the kind of social distancing and hygiene measures that drove down infections in the spring.

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Third of UK under heightened lockdown as number of northern towns go into local lockdown

Liverpool, Warrington, Hartlepool and Middlesbrough became the latest regions to enter local lockdowns on Saturday, with it now illegal for households to mix indoors in those areas.

In an interview with the Telegraph, Boris Johnson called for people to be “patient” as the Government seeks to stifle a second wave of outbreaks.

More than a third of the UK population is living under heightened restrictions, and the prime minister has faced a revolt on his backbenches in recent days over the way ministers have introduced such local lockdowns without giving MPs a say.

But he said there was a “moral imperative” to bring in life-saving measures during what he called a “once-in-a-century event”.

Addressing the unpopularity of the 10pm pub curfew and other social restrictions, Mr Johnson told the paper he sympathised “with people who chafe at the restrictions”.

He added: “I think everybody is fed up - I just urge people to be a little bit patient. We will get through it and we will save a load of lives, and that's really the best I can say. I think there is a moral imperative to save life where you can.”

PA

Students fined £200 over party at university halls

Two students have been fined £200 each following an illegal party in a university's halls of residence, West Midlands Police has said.

Up to 200 people are thought to have joined the party at Arundel House in Coventry in the early hours of Tuesday.

A video on social media showed people dancing at the late-night rave.

Police said they were called to the accommodation block following reports of a “large gathering of students” in the common room.

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Boris Johnson yesterday said his government would do “eeeeeeverything we can” to allow families to spend time together at Christmas and make it “as normal as possible”.

One-fifth of teachers have seen ‘significant’ pupil absence due to Covid-19, survey finds

One in five teachers have reported significant numbers of pupil absences at their school, according to a survey.

And nearly half (47 per cent) of teachers surveyed said they had concerns that teacher shortages, due to self-isolating or lack of testing, will lead to difficulties when trying to maintain sufficient staff levels.

The survey of 5,451 National Education Union (NEU) members in England suggested 80 per cent had seen pupil absences in their school because of self-isolating and/or a lack of access to tests.

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Sky News’ Rowland Manthorpe has provided a useful partial transcript of Boris Johnson’s car crash ITV interview last night, in which he struggled to answer viewer questions about local lockdown measures.

First coronavirus wave caused ‘substantial harm and distress’ to vulnerable people

The first coronavirus lockdown caused “substantial harm and distress” to vulnerable people, charities have warned, as they urged the government to avoid shutting down health and care services if Covid-19 infections continue to rise.

National Voices, a coalition of 160 health and care charities in England, said lessons needed to be learned about how to support people with long-term conditions or who are vulnerable as the pandemic continues.

It comes amid preparations for a potential upsurge in the number of people needing hospital treatment for Covid-19 over the winter, with some regions separating NHS hospitals into those that will treat coronavirus patients and those that will attempt to remain Covid-free.

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Experimental coronavirus drug given to Trump already being trialled in UK

A “very potent” experimental coronavirus drug being given to Donald Trump is already being used in a handful of UK hospitals, according to an Oxford University professor.

The US president was given the artificial antibody treatment at the White House on Friday after being diagnosed with Covid-19, before he was taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre.

The drug began being used in “about three hospitals in the north” last weekend as part of Oxford University's national Recovery trial, said Professor Peter Horby.

Prof Horby, who specialises in emerging infectious diseases at Oxford University and is co-chief investigator of the Recovery trial, added that the drug is due to be rolled out to “another 30 to 40 hospitals” in the UK next week.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Saturday morning, Prof Horby described the drug as “very promising” and “very potent”

He said: “The class of drugs, these artificial antibodies, have been around for quite a while now, and they've been extensively used in inflammatory conditions and cancers, and they're pretty safe and well understood, and so the technology is something that I think we have confidence in.

PA

Liverpool’s Sadio Mane tests positive for coronavirus and will miss clash with Aston Villa

Sadio Mane will miss this weekend’s Premier League trip to Aston Villa after testing positive for coronavirus, joining Thiago Alcantara in having to enter self-isolation.

Liverpool confirmed the news on Friday night after the Senegal international decided to make the news public, having been absent from training ahead of the weekend.

The reigning Premier League champions said that Mane has been suffering from “minor symptoms” and has been kept away from the rest of the squad, who are preparing for Sunday’s trip to Villa Park.

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