Boris Johnson Will Give Live TV Address To Reveal New Coronavirus Blocking System

Millions of people will learn tomorrow of the new coronavirus restrictions with a three-tier system that puts regions on medium, high or very high alert as cases continue to rise.

Boris Johnson hosts a Cobra meeting of heads of health and senior ministers on Monday morning before announcing England’s three-tier system to the Commons.

The system will be named Local Covid Alert Levels with England at “medium”, “high” and “very high” alert levels.

There are no details yet on which area of ​​England will be placed at what level.

The Prime Minister will later address the nation live from Downing Street, flanked by Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Medical Director Professor Chris Whitty.

Millions of people could be prohibited from traveling outside their areas or mingling indoors with other homes.

Some local bosses want to close pubs but not restaurants, but are said to be discussing whether to include pubs that sell food.

On Monday morning, Professor Whitty’s deputy Jonathan Van-Tam and senior health officials will describe the grim details of how the virus is spreading across the country.

The UK recorded 12,872 new cases on Sunday, and the death toll rose by 65 to 42,825.

Professor Van-Tam is expected to highlight the rise in hospital admissions and infection rates in the worst-hit areas as he prepares viewers for the prime minister’s speech that will unveil the sidewalks later on.

MPs will be asked to debate and vote on the measures later this week.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said: “Our primary focus has always been to protect lives and livelihoods while controlling the spread of the virus, and these measures will help achieve that goal.

“We must do everything we can to protect the NHS and ensure that it can continue to provide the essential services on which so many depend.

“This is a critical juncture and it is absolutely vital that everyone follows the clear guidance that we have set out to help contain the virus.”

Oxford University Professor Peter Horby (CORR), who chairs the Government’s New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threat Advisory Group, said hospitals are under increasing pressure.

He said: “We are already seeing in some parts of the North that some hospitals are starting to see pressure.

“We have a doubling time of about eight to 15 days, so it doesn’t take long before the beds in the ICU (intensive care unit) are full and we could be in a really tough situation.

“I am afraid that we will have to make very difficult decisions and act very quickly.”

He feared a second national shutdown might be needed, and told the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show: “I think it’s a possibility and we have to do what we can to avoid it at all costs.”

The prime minister has been forced to act as the disease takes hold as Britain heads into winter.

He called an emergency cabinet meeting on Sunday, with ministers calling from their London homes and constituencies across the UK.

He also spoke to Liverpool City Region Metropolitan Mayor Steve Rotheram as the area prepares to be hit with the most severe restrictions.

Local leaders, No.10 Senior Advisors and Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick also held talks with council heads in areas where the disease has gotten out of control.

Downing Street wanted to highlight the commitment to regional leaders after a weekend of mounting criticism.

Manchester City Council Leader Sir Richard Leese said there was a “great gulf” in the discussions about the new restrictions.

He told Times Radio: “It seems we have a near impossible task of penetrating the Westminster bubble.”

Shadow Jobs and Pensions Secretary Jonathan Reynolds, MP for Stalybridge and Hyde, Gtr Manchester, warned: “To be blunt, there is resentment; there is resentment of the North / South divide on some of these local restrictions and you can see .

“Unless the Prime Minister realizes this, it will be even more difficult.”

As fears of an expansion of local closures grew last week, the Chancellor announced a new version of the licensing scheme.

The Government will pay two thirds of each worker’s salary up to a maximum of £ 2,100 per month.

But it will only apply to companies legally forced to close by new rules.

Businesses that can stay open but whose trading is affected by the domino effect of restrictions, such as food suppliers affected by a drop in demand if restaurants are ordered to close, will not benefit.

Local leaders called for more help for the employees and businesses that would be hit.

Greater Manchester Metro Mayor Andy Burnham demanded ministers increase the two-thirds wage support for closed businesses to 80% of state-paid wages in March.

“If there is going to be some form of blockade, it has to come with the same support that was provided earlier this year,” he insisted.

“This is people’s lives, this is people’s business, this is the future of our region. If you expect us to keep quiet and accept our fate … we are not going to do that. “

Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson said: “If this were in London, we wouldn’t be talking about this.

“It is because it is the Northwest where they want to do it cheaply and we are not going to allow them to do it.

“Let me make this absolutely clear, the people of the Northwest will not get down on their knees and tolerate the government that is actually dictating in a way that will damage our economy for many, many years to come.”

Shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy, MP from Wigan, told the BBC: “What we really want is for the government to come up with a financial support package that allows people to comply with health restrictions.

“People are told that they are going to have to live on 67% of their salary despite not having a job to go to, but they have to pay 100% of the rent and bills.”

Ignoring calls to make the new licensing scheme more generous, Cabinet Minister Jenrick told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “We can’t do everything, there is a limit to what the state can do here.” .

He confirmed a plan for city councils to receive strengthened powers over the chaotic test-and-trace system.

He added: “We will make sure that the national testing infrastructure works in harmony with what is happening locally because the local councils and local communities are very good at contact tracing, understandably because they know their communities.”