Coronavirus: Birmingham and Lanarkshire face tougher rules and long-awaited app to launch

Here are five things you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic this Friday evening. We'll have another update for you on Saturday morning.

New lockdown restrictions have been announced in parts of the West Midlands which have seen a spike in coronavirus cases. From Tuesday, households in Birmingham, Sandwell and Solihull will be banned from mixing together. In Scotland, restrictions on visiting other households have been extended to Lanarkshire from midnight on Friday. Take a look at which areas are under local lockdown.

Scientists advising the government say coronavirus infections are beginning to spread more rapidly across the UK. For the first time since March, the R number - which measures how many people one patient infects - is above 1. A separate study of thousands of people in England found that cases were doubling every seven or eight days, with a marked rise in the north and among young people. The number of new daily confirmed UK cases rose to 3,539 on Friday - an increase of more than 600 on the previous day.

Wales has joined the rest of the UK in making face coverings mandatory in shops and other indoor public spaces. The new rule will come into force on Monday - the same day that indoor meetings of more than six people from an extended household will become illegal in Wales. Here's a reminder of the rules around the UK.

The government's long-awaited contact-tracing app will be launched across England and Wales on 24 September. Businesses are being asked to display QR code posters to support the app. Scotland launched its own app on Thursday which has already been downloaded more than 600,000 times.

Scientists will carry out a major research project in Bristol investigating the role played by schoolchildren in spreading the virus. The study aims to understand exactly how pupils transmit the virus and help provide vital information on how schools should deal with outbreaks. The University of Bristol study will saliva-test 4,000 pupils and 1,000 staff from schools across the city once a month for six months.

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Find more information, advice and guides on our coronavirus page. With the UK's travel rules frequently changing, here's a reminder of which countries are on the UK's various quarantine lists.

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