Ahead of his national TV address this evening, Boris Johnson has announced a range of new measures to combat the rapid rise in coronavirus cases in England.
Here are the key points from the Prime Minister’s statement to the House of Commons.
- Effective immediately people who can work from home “should work from home”, the prime minister said, although where this is not possible, such as with construction and hospitality, staff should still attend their places of work as usual.
- From Thursday, pubs, bars and restaurants can only operate via table service, and must close by 10pm – deliveries can continue after this time.
- All taxi and minicab passengers, including the driver, must wear face masks, as must all retail and hospitality staff, and hospitality customers except when they are seated to eat or drink. Businesses that breach the rules could be fined or closed down.
- There will be stricter enforcement of the rules, with extra funding available for police and local authorities. Individual fines for first-time breaches will double to £200.
- From Monday no more than 15 people will be able to attend wedding ceremonies and receptions, in a tightening of the “rule of six”. Up to 30 can still attend a funeral as now.
- Adult indoor team sports will no longer be allowed.
- The planned return of spectators to sports venues will now not go ahead from October 1.
Talking about the tightening up of the rule of six, Mr Johnson said: “We will also have to extend the rule of six to all adult indoor team sports. Finally we have to acknowledge that the spread of the virus is now affecting our ability to reopen business conferences, exhibitions and large sporting events, so we will not be able to do this from 1st October and I recognise the implications for our sports clubs which are the life and soul of our communities.”
