Coronavirus new: Starmer blames government ‘failures’ for new restrictions as UK sees 6,000 new cases

Opinion: Six months on, Boris Johnson’s Britain is fractured

Since the initial lockdown, mixed government messages and constant flip-flopping on rules have caused frustration and anger, writes Andrew Grice. Other countries have done a far better job in limiting health and economic harm

‘Creative and imaginative schemes’

The prime minister has said the government will introduce "further creative and imaginative schemes to keep our economy moving".

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer asked why business support was not announced at the same time as greater Covid-19 restrictions on Tuesday.

Boris Johnson replied: "Let's be in absolutely no doubt that the work that this Government has done to protect the economy of this country, to support the jobs of 12 million people through the furlough scheme, enabled expenditure of about £160 billion has been unexampled anywhere else in the world.

"And I think he should pay tribute to the Chancellor and his work and we will go forward with further creative and imaginative schemes to keep our economy moving."

Hundreds of Dundee students in self-isolation

Five-hundred students in Dundee have been asked to self-isolate after a positive case of coronavirus was reported.

Hundreds of residents of Parker House student accommodation are now under strict quarantine measures amid fears of an outbreak in the halls due to a number of other suspected cases.

Daisy Lester has the full story: 

Don’t panic buy, Tesco says

There is no need for Britons to panic buy groceries after the government imposed new restrictions to stem a second wave of Covid-19, the boss of Tesco has said.

 "I think the UK saw how well the food industry managed last time, so there's very good supplies of food," Dave Lewis said.

“We just don't want to see a return to unnecessary panic buying because that creates a tension in the supply chain that's not necessary," the supermarket chain’s chief executive told Sky News. “And therefore we would just encourage customers to continue to buy as normal.” 

After the first lockdown measures were announced back in March, images showed bare supermarket shelves as people rushed to stock up on supplies. 

Additional reporting by Reuters

‘Another winter of discontent’

Boris Johnson was has been accused of leading the UK into “another winter of discontent” amid fears of mass unemployment and a failing coronavirus testing system, Andrew Woodcock reports.

The prime minister came under pressure in the House of Commons for new financial support measures for businesses hit by the hammer blow of coronavirus restrictions expected to last six months, as well as an extension of the furlough scheme supplementing wages for workers who would otherwise by laid off.

Mr Johnson promised “further creative and imaginative schemes to keep our economy moving”, but gave no details of how chancellor Rishi Sunak might deliver the additional support being demanded by the CBI, unions and the Bank of England.

 ‘Herd immunity’ messaging chaos

Newly released emails have revealed the anger and alarm among the UK’s top scientists over the government’s exploration of “herd immunity” when dealing with initial outbreak of coronavirus earlier this year.

Boris Johnson’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance even had to ask for help in trying to “calm down” leading academics after he expressed his apparent support for the controversial idea in public.

The government has insisted herd immunity – the moment a high enough proportion of a population achieves immunity from a disease – was never official government policy or strategy.

England might ban household mixing ‘very soon’

An academic who advises the government has said a ban on households mixing in England could be coming "very soon".

Waiting just two or three weeks to implement such a measure would be too late, Peter Openshaw, professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London, warned.

Such a ban has been announced in Northern Ireland and Scotland while in Wales a maximum of six people are allowed to meet indoors but they must be part of a single extended household.

Asked on BBC Radio 5 Live's The Emma Barnett Show about a ban on household mixing, Prof Openshaw said: "I think that may well be coming very soon."

On timing, the professor, who is a member of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), which advises the government, said: “Well, I would think if we wait two or three weeks, it will be too late. It ought to be instituted sooner rather than later.”

Asked if the prime minister had gone far enough with the new measures he announced on Tuesday, the professor said: "I think looking from the lens of somebody who is concerned about health, probably not."

Coronavirus ‘creating climate of extremism’

Security chiefs have warned coronavirus is creating a “growing climate of extremism” amid worsening unemployment and the spread of dangerous conspiracy theories.

Parliament’s Home Affairs Committee was told the worsening economic situation in Britain was combining with hate crime and misinformation to create an environment “very conducive” to radicalisation.

Sara Khan, who leads the Commission for Countering Extremism, told MPs: “We are going to see a growing climate of extremism in our country and we are currently ill-equipped to deal with that."

Security correspondent Lizzie Dearden has more on this below:

First single-shot vaccine reaches final stage of trial

Johnson & Johnson is beginning a huge final study to try to prove if a single-dose Covid-19 vaccine can protect against the virus

The study starting Wednesday will be one of the world's largest coronavirus vaccine studies so far, testing the shot in 60,000 volunteers in the US, South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.

A handful of other vaccines in the US - including shots made by Moderna Inc. and Pfizer Inc - and others in other countries are already in final-stage testing. Hopes are high that answers about at least one candidate being tested in the US could come by year's end, maybe sooner.

Read more:

Stockholm facing local restrictions

Stockholm could face new local restrictions to curb the spread of coronavirus, as health officials warn of “worrying signs" in the Swedish capital.  

Sweden, which has so far chosen not to use lockdowns to tackle the virus, is also seeing early signs the number of infections is increasing nationally, experts have said.  

Stockholm’s top health official has raised the alarm about a rise in cases in the region.

Zoe Tidman has more details on this story below: