As it happened: More areas of UK under new coronavirus restrictions

EPACopyright: EPA

It's been a day of fast-moving developments in the UK as the government imposed additional restrictions on some regions to control a rise in cases.

• Increased measures have been announced across the whole of London - and other areas, including Essex and parts of Cumbria, Surrey and Yorkshire
• But there's been a backlash from local leaders in the North West where plans to introduce the highest Covid restrictions have been rejected again, amid a row over the level of financial support
• Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says the nation is at a "critical and precarious point" and further measures could not be ruled out - including a tiered alert system similar to England
• In Northern Ireland, businesses forced to close due to new coronavirus restrictions will be able to access additional financial support, the executive has confirmed
• And in Wales it looks like the government will announce a limited circuit-breaker lockdown in the next few days
• Travellers returning to the UK from Italy, Vatican City and San Marino as of 04:00 BST on Sunday must now self-isolate, the government has announced
• England's NHS Test and Trace service has announced its worst performance figures since late June - with just over 62% per cent of close contacts of people who tested positive for Covid-19 being reached in the week to 7 October
• Another 18,980 people have tested positive for Covid in the UK and there have been a further 138 deaths

AFPCopyright: AFP

Some images of the Covid-19 pandemic will last generations – deserted city streets, football games played in empty stadia or world leaders in face masks.

For many of us, the most vivid memories may be a little closer to home: queues at the shops, talking to loved ones on mobile screens and bare aisles in the supermarket.

I live in the UK where in the early days of the pandemic, grocery store shelves emptied long before we were told to stop going to the pub, schools closed and face masks became mandatory. The severity of what was approaching only hit home for some people when the rice and pasta ran out.

Other people around the world were far less fortunate than I was. In Africa, 73 million people across 36 countries are deemed acutely food-insecure as a result of Covid-19 by the World Food Programme, compared to half a million in Europe.

The pandemic has highlighted how fragile our food chain – from field to fork – really is. But have we learned anything from the experience about food security? And how might we be better prepared next time?

Read more here.

Earlier we reported an announcement by Grant Shapps that Italy, San Marino and Vatican City have been removed from the UK's "travel corridor" list.

The transport secretary also said those returning from the Greek island of Crete will now not need to quarantine.

So where can you go without having to self-isolate on return?

Check our guide, here.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

The latest government figures show the total number of people to have tested positive for coronavirus in the UK has now reached 673,622. And the number of people dying within 28 days of testing positive stands at 43,293.

The graphs here show how cases have been rising again in recent weeks - with daily hospital admissions now at a seven-day average of 730.

BBCCopyright: BBC

BBCCopyright: BBC

BBCCopyright: BBC

Walla NewsCopyright: Walla News

Israeli police have made arrests at an ultra-Orthodox wedding which descended into chaos as guests were dragged away and officers said glass bottles of cooking oil were thrown at them.

The celebration broke Covid-19 rules as it involved “dozens” of guests, according to police. It took place in a private house in the settlement of Givat Ze’ev in the occupied West Bank.

Videos posted on social media showed scuffles between officers and guests. One man with a bloodied face was detained while another was shown bleeding on the ground. Israeli media reported that people slipped on the cooking oil and fell on broken glass. Family members accused police of attacking the bride’s brother.

The incident comes amid a growing row between secular and ultra-religious communities over the response to lockdown rules in Israel, which is starting to turn the tide on a dramatic surge in the virus. Some ultra-Orthodox politicians strongly criticised officers for heavy-handed tactics. But police slammed attacks on their officers saying they were stopping a “gross violation” of the rules.

BBCCopyright: BBC

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has urged local leaders to "set aside party politics" so that "people come together so we can control this virus".

He was speaking after the Labour mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said he and other representatives in the region were "unanimously opposed" to the introduction of Tier 3 restrictions.

Mr Hancock said the leaders should "work with us to put in place the measures that are needed in Greater Manchester - across the North West, so that we can deal with this virus and support people through it".

He said: "This is a time for people to come together so that we can control this virus."

When asked if there would be a more generous financial package for the area he said "there has been an unprecedented package of support", pointing to measures already announced.

And when asked if a national circuit-breaker was necessary he said "what we want to do is take a regional, a local approach because there are different levels of virus in different parts of the country".

With all the changes you can be forgiven if you are unsure of what the restrictions are where you live.

To find out what the rules are in your area you can use our handy postcode checker here.

BBCCopyright: BBC

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

Footballer Marcus Rashford helped force a U-turn from the government on providing on free school meal vouchers for eligible pupils in England over the summer holidays - but his latest appeal to ministers appears to have been turned down.

During the coronavirus lockdown the government helped families whose children qualify for free meals. They insisted this would not continue outside of term time - but changed their mind after the England and Manchester United striker's campaign.

Now the footballer has launched a petition calling on ministers to go further in tackling child hunger - including providing meals over the Christmas break. It comes as meals are being made available during the breaks to eligible children in Wales.

But Downing Street has now indicated that free school meals will not be given to children in England during the holidays.

Rashford, who was made an MBE in last week's honours list on the back of his work for vulnerable children,, hit back on Twitter, writing: "Merry Christmas kids... It's also not for food banks to feed millions of British children but here we are... This is not going away anytime soon and neither am I..."

Anadolu AgencyCopyright: Anadolu Agency

As cases and hospital admissions continue to rise across Europe, several countries are rolling out restrictions to ease the stress on healthcare systems and economies.

If you're just joining us, here are some of the biggest developments on the continent:

• European Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen has left an EU summit in Brussels after discovering she'd had been in contact with someone who's tested positive. Ms von der Leyen said she'd tested negative but, as a precaution, would be self-isolating
• France has unveiled further details of its plan to introduce a night-time lockdown in several cities, including Paris, from Saturday
• Italy has registered 8,804 new cases of coronavirus during the last 24 hours, beating a previous official high of 7,332 set yesterday
• From Saturday, Slovenia's government has ordered bars, restaurants and sports facilities to close in seven of the country's 12 regions, including the capital Ljubljana. It follows two consecutive days of record official case numbers
• Poland’s government has announced that new restrictions will be in place in several major cities, including the capital Warsaw, from Saturday. It comes as 8,099 new infections were reported since yesterday - also beating a previous official high

PA MediaCopyright: PA Media

At an earlier virtual meeting of the Scottish Parliament, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said a Welsh-style ban on people travelling from Covid hotspots in other parts of the UK "is being considered".

"Although we have put in place tough measures, we cannot rule out having to go further in the future," she said.

The travel ban for Wales is expected to come into force at 18:00 BST tomorrow, and affects people living in Tier 2 and Tier 3 regions of England - which will cover half the population by the weekend - as well as the whole of Northern Ireland and the central belt of Scotland.

A further 18,980 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the UK, according to the latest data.

The government's dashboard also show another 138 people have died within 28 days of a positive test.

The figures compare with 19,724 cases and 137 deaths recorded on Wednesday.

Over the last few months we’ve been told how important it is to wash our hands regularly – for at least 20 seconds – to protect against coronavirus. But with so many different soaps to choose from, how do we work out what’s best?

To mark Global Handwashing Day, Dr Michelle Wong – a beauty blogger with a PhD in chemistry – explains how to find the best soap for your skin when cleaning our hands more regularly, and a trick to get children to wash their hands.

Listen to BBC CrowdScience for more about how soap works.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Authorities in Italy have registered 8,804 new cases during the last 24 hours, beating the previous official high of 7,332 set yesterday.

Italy's health ministry also reported 83 coronavirus-related deaths, jumping from 43 on Wednesday, but far less than the peak of the country's outbreak in March and April, when daily death tolls reached more than 900.

It comes as infections continue to soar around Europe, prompting the rollout of restrictions in countries like neighbouring France.

While Burnham was talking in Manchester, there was news of a likely development in Wales.

The BBC has been told that the Welsh Government is expected to announce a limited "circuit breaker" lockdown in the next few days.

A circuit-breaker a short period of time where tighter restrictions are brought in to break the trajectory of coronavirus cases rising.

It is not yet clear when the announcement will be made, for how long a limited shutdown would last, or which sectors would close.

But what is known is that Welsh Secretary Simon Hart has written to First Minister Mark Drakeford asking him to give businesses time to prepare for such a move.

BBCCopyright: BBC

The Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham concludes his comments by revealing that government ministers suggested there is "no money left" for the kind of financial package the local leaders say is necessary before their areas are put into the highest tier of coronavirus restrictions.

Burnham, who spoke to health ministers earlier today, said he had been told "there is no money to put on the table".

He added: "To be honest with you, I don't believe that for one second. When I look today at some of the fees they are paying to consultants working on the failed test and trace scheme, when I look at the billions that is being thrown at a scheme that isn't working for Greater Manchester, money that has been found for other things this year.

"The argument I am making is... support people right now when they need it because by supporting people now you will save jobs and businesses that will be able to restart the minute we find a vaccine, the minute the recovery is on."

Burnham says he and other Greater Manchester leaders were told by the deputy chief medical officer that the "only certain thing to work is a national lockdown".

But Burnham then points out the government was "unwilling to do that because of the harm it would do to the national economy".

"They are willing to sacrifice jobs and businesses here [in north-west England] to try and save them elsewhere," Burnham said, adding that they were being treated as "canaries in the coal mine" for an "experimental regional lockdown strategy".

He said the "very least" the government needed to do was to offer a furlough scheme with 80% of wages paid, support for the self-employed and help for businesses, the same as that offered to the general population during the first national lockdown from March.

BBCCopyright: BBC

Burnham, a former Labour health secretary who has been the Greater Manchester mayor since 2017, said regional leaders had communicated their "clear and unanimous" view to the government that it was wrong to put some of poorest parts in England into a "punishing lockdown" without adequate support that was "not certain to control the virus".

Asked whether he thinks the government would impose the Tier 3 restrictions on the region without local agreement, Burnham said: "We can't simply be treated as second-class citizens. We understand the government's view and wait for further engagement."

He added: "If the government are convinced this approach will work.... they have to back that properly, fully financially, so it will have a chance of working."

Burnham adds that the Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Van-Tam said bringing infection rates down would "require widespread closures way beyond pubs".

"They are asking us to gamble our residents' jobs, homes and businesses and large chunk of our economy on a strategy that their own experts say will not work," he said.

BBCCopyright: BBC