Boris Johnson tells MPs new coronavirus restrictions could last six months

The Prime Minister was outlining the regulations to MPs in the House of Commons ahead of a live national broadcast at 8pm tonight.

The move sees many of the local lockdown rules already in place across the North East extended nationally.

People will be asked to work from home wherever possible and from Thursday, all pubs, bars and restaurants must operate table service only and close at 10pm.

Businesses will be fined and could be closed if they breach rules.

“I’m sorry this will affect many businesses just getting back on their feet but we must act,” said Mr Johnson.

He told the House a rising proportion of tests were yielding positive results. and hospital admissions in England had more than doubled in the last fortnight.

Covid was likely to spread faster as autumn became winter: “This is the moment when we must act”, he said.

Getting the infection rate down would save lives and protect the economy from more Draconian measures later.

“After six months of restrictions, it would to tempting to hope that the threat has faded and to seek comfort in the belief that if you have avoided the virus so far, then you are somehow immune,” said Mr Johnson.

“I have to say that it is that kind of complacency that could be our undoing. If we fail to act together now, we will not only place others at risk but jeopardise our own futures with the more drastic actions we would inevitably be forced to take.”

The Government did not want to impose more restrictions but reserved the right to use ‘greater firepower, with significantly greater restrictions’ if things did not improve: “We will only be able to avoid it if our new measures work and our behaviour changes,” he said.

“Unless we palpably make progress, we should assume that the restrictions I have announced will remain in place for, perhaps, six months.

"For the time being, this virus is a fact of our lives and I must tell the House, and the country, that our fight against it will continue.

“We are taking decisive and appropriate steps to balance saving lives with protecting jobs and livelihoods.”

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