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A man and a woman wear masks in Cardiff, who will see strict rules from Sunday
More than a quarter of the UK population will be under strict coronavirus regulations, as new measures go into effect this week.
In England, from Saturday, Leeds, Wigan, Stockport and Blackpool homes are banned from merging into each other’s homes or gardens.
In Wales, Lalenley became subject to the new rules at 18:00 BST, with Cardiff and Swansea complying after 24 hours.
It comes at a rate at which the virus is spreading, it is accelerating.
There have been 6,042 new coronavirus infections in the UK in the last 24 hours, according to the latest government figures – and 34 deaths among those who tested positive for Covid-19 in the last 28 days.
It marks the fourth day in a row that new infections have peaked at 6,000 in the UK.
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714 cases were reported in Scotland on Saturday, 156 more than on Friday and have been confirmed in a single day since its outbreak.
In Northern Ireland, where other homes are not even allowed to meet inside the home, 319 new cases have set a new daily record, compared to 273 on Friday. Although mass testing was not available during the spring, death was at its peak.
370 new cases were reported in Wales on Saturday.
The R number – which indicates how many people are infected with the coronavirus – has risen in the past week and is now estimated at between 1.2 and 1.5. A number above 1 means the virus is spreading in the community.
Meanwhile, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said immediate action was needed to rein in the coronavirus in the capital, amid a “sharp increase” in hospital admissions and patients in intensive care units.
On Friday, London was added to the government’s Covid-19 watch list – with all borough groups as areas of concern.
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In England, the “six rule” for pubs and rest restaurants rents and the closing time of 22:00 applies nationally.
But additional restrictions also apply to large parts of north-east and north-west England, West Yorkshire and the Midlands – where infection rates are higher.
The latest rules for Leeds, Wigan, Stockport and Blackpool came into force at midnight and prohibited merging into private homes or gardens in different homes.
Support bubbles are not affected and friends and family can still provide informal childcare for children under 14.
People are advised not to socialize with people who do not live in any other settings, including bars, shops and parks.
On Saturday, Wales – where the R number is between 0.7 and 1.2 – people in Lalenley, Carmathenshire, were forbidden to leave the city or mingle indoors with anyone outside their home, with only their first city locked.
Similar rules will be brought to Wales’ two largest cities – Cardiff and Swansea – on Sunday at 18:00. People will not be able to enter or leave the area without a valid excuse, the Welsh government has said.
That means by the end of the week, about half of Wales’ population will be under lockdown – 1.5 million people.
And under strict rules the total number of people living in the UK will be 17 million.
Welsh Prime Minister Mark Dreckford urged people in Cardiff to behave as if new sanctions were in effect until Sunday.
Health Minister Wagan Gehing said restrictions today are more focused on home transmissions than pubs.
“We have good evidence that there is contact in the homes of the people who run it primarily. It is then leaking into other areas where people have contact, including licensed spaces,” he said.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that “these additional measures recognize the burden and impact on our daily lives but we must act collectively and quickly to eradicate the infection.”
Meanwhile, students have spoken of their anxiety and frustration at being isolated in university accommodation, with little instruction or guidance.
As many as 1,700 students at Manchester Metropolitan University were asked to self-isolate for two weeks at their student meetings after testing positive for Covid-19.
To prevent the virus from spreading in Scotland, students have been told not to socialize with anyone outside their accommodation or to rent pubs, parties or rest restaurants this weekend.
Other developments:
- U.K. The new global vaccine-sharing scheme is designed to provide ov 500 million to ensure that treatment for Covid-19 is properly distributed.
- Demand for coronavirus tests in young children in England has almost tripled this month – but only 1% were found to be infected, statistics show
- The World Health Organization warns that the death toll from the global coronavirus could reach two million before effective vaccines are widely used.
- Less than 0.1% of people stopped by police for not wearing masks on trains were fined, the figures came out.
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