Boris Johnson will address the nation at 8pm this evening to announce tougher measures that will now be needed to tackle rising Covid infections.
Any measures announced tonight are expected to come into place at midnight on Wednesday, after the House of Commons was recalled earlier today.
The prime minister said this morning there is “no question” that tougher measures would be needed to defeat the rising Covid-19 numbers: “If you look at the numbers there’s no question we will have to take tougher measures and we will be announcing those in due course.”
This evenings speech is set to take place after the government’s key “Covid-O” committee meeting this afternoon where ministers will decide on any changes to the current tier restrictions.
Some sources are advising that ministers will move the remaining tier 3 locations into the toughest tier 4 restrictions – with another expecting school closures to be announced, but not until Wednesday.
News of the nation address comes after Scotland’s first minister announced on today a new lockdown, effective from midnight tonight, for everyone in mainland Scotland to remain indoors except for essential purposes.
