Coronavirus news: Boris Johnson urges public to abide by new Covid rules through ‘unquestionably difficult’ winter

Canada ‘at a crossroads’, public health agency warns

Canada is facing a surge in coronavirus cases that risks ballooning to higher levels than were seen during the first wave of the pandemic in the spring if people do not take stringent precautions, health officials have warned.

"Canada is at a crossroads and individual action to reduce contact rates will decide our path," said a statement from the Public Health Agency.

According to a worst-case scenario outlined by the agency, cases could rise more than 1,000 per day for the next 10 days.

Additional reporting by Reuters

Spain daily infections surpass 10,000 as fresh restrictions announced

Spain has announced nearly 10,800 new infections today, as the region of Catalonia said it would further limit public gatherings.

It came as health authorities in Catalonia said they would limit gatherings to six people from 10 across the northeastern region to reduce contagion.

More than 10,600 people were in hospital with coronavirus, 1,348 of them in intensive care.

Coronavirus patients occupied nearly 10 per cent of all hospital capacity across Spain, but in hard-hit regions like Madrid that share was as high as 25 per cent as doctors complain of a lack of staff and resources.

Additional reporting by Reuters

Johnson to give televised address

Boris Johnson is to address the nation in a televised speech at 8pm after announcing new coronavirus restrictions in parliament earlier today.

The prime minister is expected to urge the public to abide by the rules as infections surge across the country.

You can watch his speech here in a few minutes’ time.

Johnson warns of further restrictions if public flout new rules

Boris Johnson has warned the UK will face further coronavirus retrictions if people flout new rules announced today.

In his televised address, the prime minister said there were "unquestionably difficult months to come" as Covid-19 infections surge in the country.

He urged the public to “summon the discipline, and the resolve, and the spirit of togetherness that will carry us through".

Johnson said: "Never in our history has our collective destiny and our collective health depended so completely on our individual behaviour. If we follow these simple rules together, we will get through this winter together. There are unquestionably difficult months to come.

 “And the fight against covid is by no means over. I have no doubt, however, that there are great days ahead. But now is the time for us all to summon the discipline, and the resolve, and the spirit of togetherness that will carry us through.”

But he added: that “if people don’t follow the rules we have set out, then we must reserve the right to go further”.

Medics ‘unanimous that things will get better by spring’

Doctors are “unanimous that things will be far better by the spring”, Boris Johnson has said.

He told the nation: “Though our doctors and our medical advisers are rightly worried about the data now, and the risks over winter, they are unanimous that things will be far better by the spring, when we have not only the hope of a vaccine, but one day soon – and I must stress that we are not there yet - of mass testing so efficient that people will be able to be tested in minutes so they can do more of the things they love.”

‘Too many breaches’ of coronavirus rules, PM says

Boris Johnson’s speech appeared to pin the blame for rising infections on people flouting coronavirus rules.

The PM said: "We have to acknowledge this this is a great and freedom-loving country; and while the vast majority have complied with the rules there have been too many breaches – too many opportunities for our invisible enemy to slip through undetected.

“The virus has started to spread again in an exponential way. Infections are up, hospital admissions are climbing.”

PM ‘set out clear plan to protect Britain’, says Hancock

Health secretary Matt Hancock has commented on Boris Johnson’s speech on Twitter: 

Talk turns to Cummings after Johnson criticises rule-breakers

 Boris Johnson blaming coronavirus rule-breakers for a resurgence in infections has inevitably prompted some minds to turn to the PM’s own chief adviser Dominic Cummings:

Devolved leaders address their nations following new restrictions

The leaders of all four UK nations have now addressed each country, after fresh, slightly varying restrictions were announced across the UK.

Nicola Sturgeon conceded that the new measures in Scotland may feel like a “step backwards” but that the ban on households mixing outdoors and 10pm hospitality curfew “will make a difference”.

As he introduced a curfew and table service rules in Wales, also encouraging people only to make essential journeys, Mark Drakeford warned of the "very real possibility that we could see the virus regain a foothold in our local communities, towns and cities". 

“Now none of us wants to see that happen again. 2020 has been an incredibly difficult year. We have all sacrificed so much,” he said. "Families have lost loved ones. People have lost jobs and livelihoods. This is a highly infectious virus. We cannot let it take a hold of our lives again. We have come too far to let that happen."

And as she banned households from mixing indoors in Northern Ireland, with exemptions, Arlene Foster said it was a “tough restriction in a country where we are known for our hospitality”, but that it “is no kindness” to host large gatherings, cautioning: “The only winner in the long term from such scenes will be Covid-19.”

Coronavirus tracked: The stark graphics that reveal how US passed 200,000 Covid-19 deaths

There have now been more coronavirus deaths in the US than there were US combat deaths in the First World War, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the war in Afghanistan, and the Iraq War combined, as well as every terrorist attack, mass shooting and natural disaster ever recorded in the US. 

Anthony Cuthbertson examines the data that led to this grim new toll in his latest coronavirus tracked piece: