Boris Johnson is set to hold a press conference this afternoon following reports that a national lockdown is nearing.
The Prime Minister, alongside chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty and chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance, is likely to address the rumours.
An emergency cabinet meeting has been called for this afternoon at 1.30 pm after reports in The Times and Daily Mail suggested a national lockdown could be implemented as early as next week.
According to The Times, everything would be forced to close apart from essential shops.
Educational settings – including universities – would remain open.
The government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) proposed a two-week circuit breaker in mid-September, which the leader of the opposition, Sir Keir Starmer, supported a few weeks ago.
In the last 24 hours, the UK has recorded 24,405 new cases of coronavirus.
There have been a further 274 deaths, taking the total number of UK covid-19 related deaths to 46,229.
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The reports of a national lockdown comes following a worrying rise in hospital admissions.
In Nottinghamshire alone, there have been more than 300 COVID-19 related admissions across Nottinghamshire, excluding Bassetlaw, between October 19 and October 27.
361 beds were occupid by covid patients as of October 27 – 7.8 per cent were being given mechanically ventilated support.
Follow live updates ahead of Boris Johnson’s press conference at 4 pm.
By Matt Lee