Pubs, bars and restaurants in England will be subject to a 10pm curfew as part of the government’s latest restrictions to tackle the surge of coronavirus.
From Thursday evening, all pubs, bars, restaurants and other hospitality venues in England must close by 10pm, while food and drink outlets are restricted to table service only.
It is hoped that the 10pm curfew – already rolled out across parts of the nation’s hospitality industry – will help prevent alcohol-fuelled breaches of social distancing rules and stem the spread of the virus while allowing the economy to recover.
On Tuesday morning, the prime minister held a meeting of the emergency Cobra committee with the first ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
At 8pm, he will appear in a televised address to outline the government’s latest measures and set out further ways the country can confront coronavirus in line with the scientific advice.
It comes after Britain’s coronavirus alert level was ramped up from level three to four – last seen during the height of the pandemic – meaning transmission is “high or rising exponentially”.
The alert level upgrade was on the recommendation of the Joint Biosecurity Centre, which was agreed by the chief medical officers of the UK nations.
Earlier on Monday, England’s chief medical officers Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance warned there could be 50,000 daily cases of Covid-19 by mid-October and 200 deaths a day by mid-November if the current rate of infection is not halted.
In a joint statement, the chief medical officers for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland said: “After a period of lower Covid cases and deaths, the number of cases are now rising rapidly and probably exponentially in significant parts of all four nations.
“If we are to avoid significant excess deaths and exceptional pressure in the NHS and other health services over the autumn and winter everyone has to follow the social distancing guidance, wear face coverings correctly and wash their hands regularly.
“We know this will be a concerning news for many people; please follow the rules, look after each other and together we will get through this.”
The UK recorded a further 4,368 coronavirus cases on Monday – the second highest daily total since early May. A further 11 people have also died within 28 days of getting a positive test, however the real figure is likely higher because of reporting delays over the weekend.
Restaurants, pubs and bars in parts of England’s north-east are already under a 10pm curfew and from Tuesday venues in the north-west will join them.
A spokesperson for No 10 said: “No-one underestimates the challenges the new measures will pose to many individuals and businesses.
“We know this won’t be easy, but we must take further action to control the resurgence in cases of the virus and protect the NHS.”