Coronavirus news - live: UK at Covid ‘tipping point’ warns Hancock as Londoners could be told to work from home again
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Your support makes all the difference.Londoners could be told to work from home, the government said as officials met to discuss new restrictions in the capital to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Health secretary Matt Hancock also said he could not rule out a second nationwide lockdown as he warned that the UK was at a ‘tipping point’.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer blamed the near-collapse of the testing system for making tougher restrictions more likely and urged Boris Johnson to take “swift, decisive action”.
It came as the government announced people who refuse to self-isolate will face fines of up to £10,000, while workers on low wages will receive £500 to quarantine at home.
Good morning and welcome to the Independent’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.
UK facing ‘tipping point’, says Hancock amid fears of second lockdown
Matt Hancock has warned the UK is facing a “tipping point” as he urged the public to follow the rules.
Speaking on Sophy Ridge on Sunday, the health secretary said he wanted to avoid a national lockdown but would not rule it out.
He said: “The first line of defence is people’s behaviour. Every single person watching this programme has a part to play. You have a choice about whether we end up with this virus going out of control. It ends up in the individual choices of the 60 million people living in this country".
Mr Hancock refused to apologise for problems in the testing programme and said his team had “done amazing work” and were “brilliant, brilliant people”.
Nursing workforce boosted ahead of winter
England’s chief nurse has set out plans to spend up to £180m to boost NHS nurse numbers ahead of a second wave of coronavirus.
Ruth May said the health service would need more nurses to avoid operations being cancelled this winter.
NHS chief nurse sets out £180m plan to boost nursing workforce ahead of winter
Thousands of international recruits are already lined up to join, Ruth May says
New £10,000 fines for self-isolation evaders
Coronavirus sufferers and their contacts will be required by law to self-isolate or face fines of up to £10,000, amid fears the UK is losing control of the virus.
Those on low wages will receive £500 to stay at home as ministers try to break the chain of infection.
New fines of up to £10,000 for coronavirus sufferers who fail to self-isolate
‘We need to do all we can to control the spread of this virus, to prevent the most vulnerable people from becoming infected, and to protect the NHS and save lives’
Put children at front of testing queue, says Starmer
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has called on the government to put children "at the front of the queue" for coronavirus testing to make sure schools stay open.
He warned of a "flood" of school closures unless pupils were able to get the tests they needed, following reports that 350 schools in England and Wales were forced to close completely or to send children home last week due to positive Covid-19 tests.
"If the Prime Minister does not get a grip of the testing crisis, children will be robbed of an education. We are seeing a growing flood of schools closures," Sir Keir said in an interview with the Mirror.
“That is why I'm urging the Prime Minister, like our key workers, to put children at the front of the queue for testing. To this week give parents a cast iron guarantee that they can get their child a test within 24 hours and the result back 24 hours later.”
The Labour leader repeated his criticism of the testing programme on Sky News’ Sophy Ride on Sunday programme.
Follow the rules or face more restrictions, says Hancock
Health secretary Matt Hancock warned the government will impose fresh national coronavirus restrictions if the public fails to follow the existing rules.
Mr Hancock said he was "very worried" about the second wave of the virus now emerging in the UK.
"The nation faces a tipping point," he told Sky News's Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme.
"We have a choice. Either everybody follows the rules - the rule of six and the need to self-isolate if you have a positive test or if you are contacted by NHS Test and Trace - or we will have to take more measures.
"I don't want to see more measures, more restrictive measures, but if people don't follow the rules that is how the virus spreads."
Referring to the new £10,000 fines and cash payments for those self-isolating, Mr Hancock said: "We will support people who do the right thing and we will come down hard on people who do the wrong thing."
Matt Hancock is also appearing on the Andrew Marr show on the BBC.
He says that not only are cases surging but hospitalisations - the number of people going into hospital with coronavirus - are doubling “every seven or eight days”.
Mr Hancock also points to Belgium as an example of a country that has got on top of a surge in cases and rejected suggestions that extra restrictions were unnecessary.
“The idea that we should let this all go, it will be fine this time round. We know from history that is wrong.”
UK still at Covid alert level 3, says Hancock
Asked what the UK alert level was now that cases are rising sharply again, the health secretary said the country was still at level 3 - which talks about relaxing restrictions rather than adding new restrictions.
‘We are bringing in new restrictions because the number of cases are shooting up," he said.
The health secretary again confirms that ministers are considering a national lockdown if people do not follow the rules. “I don’t rule it out, I don’t want to see it,” he tells Andrew Marr.
“If everybody follows the rules then we can avoid further national lockdowns, but we, of course, have to be prepared to take action if that's what's necessary.”
UK 'cannot afford’ second lockdown, says expert
Professor Carl Heneghan, director for the centre of evidence-based medicine at Oxford University, has told Sky News the country cannot afford to introduce "harsh measures" immediately to curb the spread of Covid-19.
He said: "What we're seeing is that the virus is operating in a seasonal way.
"As we've gone back to schools, actually what's happened now is we've seen about a 60% increase in consultations for all the acute respiratory infections and that's what's driving the problems in the Test and Trace programme.
"All the young children who have coughs and colds and these infections, one is called rhinovirus.
"As we look at the data, Covid is operating in a similar seasonal way, and mirroring those respiratory infections, so what we have to do now is slow down, this is a long winter.
"We can't afford to go now with harsh measures ... the impact on the economy here is going to be significant.
"What happens is as soon as you pause and then open up again, it tends to come back.
"We still have to be vigilant about ensuring the infections stay manageable across the board."
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