Katy Balls Katy Balls

What to expect from Boris’s Covid clampdown

(Photo by BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images)

As the UK’s coronavirus alert level is upgraded from three to four, all focus is now on what new restrictions Boris Johnson will announce on Tuesday when he makes a statement to the Commons. Before he gets there, the Prime Minister must first meet with his cabinet and chair Cobra. 

Monday’s briefing from Chief Scientific Officer Patrick Vallance and Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty saw a hint of the difficult decisions that lie ahead. The pair painted a grim picture of the direction that infections are going in — claiming that it could lead to 50,000 new coronavirus cases a day by mid-October without further action.

However, despite talk of a so-called ‘circuit break’ to turn the tide — which would see a form of partial lockdown for two weeks – nothing quite so drastic is expected on Tuesday. Boris Johnson spent Monday afternoon in his parliamentary office holding meetings. Lockdown

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