Covid: UK government should prepare to implement Plan B restrictions, say advisers

Act now to control surging Covid cases or risk tougher measures later: that’s the message from the government’s scientific advisers.

Boris Johnson says all measures are under review, but urged people to get their booster jab.

This is as figures show England’s average daily hospital admissions for Covid patients are now at their highest for eight months, while an estimated one in 45 people in Wales have the virus and Northern Ireland has warned of “the most difficult winter ever experienced”.

In the last 24 hours, there have been just over 49,000 new Covid cases in the UK, and 180 further deaths were reported.

While 5.3 million booster doses of the vaccine have now been delivered across the UK.