Boris Johnson will set out new tough Covid lockdown restrictions in announcement on Monday 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will make a Commons statement on Monday setting out new coronavirus outbreak restrictions, according to reports.

Mr Johnson will use the occasion to outline a new ‘tiered’ approach to how local Covid situations will be treated.

The Prime Minister’s chief strategic adviser Sir Edward Lister has written to MPs following a meeting with northern leaders on Friday.

In a letter shared online, Sir Edward stated that ‘rising incidence’ of Covid in parts of the country mean it is ‘very likely’ that certain local areas will face ‘further restrictions’.

The letter added that the Prime Minister believed local leaders should ‘help shape the package of measures in the most concerning areas’.

The Government will discuss ‘difficult choices’ with local leaders, the letter stated.

It comes after the UK recorded 13,864 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours as the second wave continues to spread across the country.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson (pictured) will make a Commons statement on Monday setting out new coronavirus outbreak restrictions, according to reports

Meanwhile, new coronavirus restrictions are being introduced in Bangor following a sharp rise in cases, the Welsh Government has announced.

From 6pm on Saturday, people will not be allowed to enter or leave the area without a ‘reasonable excuse’ and can only meet people they do not live with outdoors, it said.

The new restrictions will apply to everyone living in the eight wards that make up the city of Bangor.

It comes in response to a ‘significant cluster of cases’ with outbreaks appearing to be ‘closely associated with young people and students’, the Welsh Government said.

The incident rate was around 400 cases per 100,000 people, it added.

In a statement on Friday, First Minister Mark Drakeford said: ‘Unfortunately, we have seen a large number of cases in Bangor, which is largely linked to people socialising.

‘We have worked closely with the local authority, the police in North Wales and public health experts to assess the need for local restrictions.

‘We all agree about the need to take targeted action in Bangor.

‘We want to discuss the wider situation in Gwynedd in more detail tomorrow to decide whether we need to extend local restrictions more widely across the county area.’

The new measures come after the Welsh Government announced that children living under local lockdown restrictions in Wales will be allowed to travel for sporting activities outside of their county boundaries.

Fifteen counties are currently subjected to the restrictions, which prohibit people from entering or leaving an area without a reasonable excuse such as work or education.

Almost 10,000 people had signed a petition calling for children to be able to travel to maintain training in their chosen sports with their clubs.

Meanwhile, a Public Health England surveillance report published yesterday showed only three places across England have not recorded a rises in their per-person Covid-19 infection rates in the past week - Luton, Wolverhampton and Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly

Meanwhile, a Public Health England surveillance report published yesterday showed only three places across England have not recorded a rises in their per-person Covid-19 infection rates in the past week – Luton, Wolverhampton and Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly

Britain's coronavirus reproduction rate has fallen slightly, according to the Government's scientific advisers. They say the current R value - the number of people each Covid-19 patient infects - is between 1.2 and 1.5. This is down slightly on last week's range of 1.3 and 1.

Britain’s coronavirus reproduction rate has fallen slightly, according to the Government’s scientific advisers. They say the current R value – the number of people each Covid-19 patient infects – is between 1.2 and 1.5. This is down slightly on last week’s range of 1.3 and 1.

Speaking at the Welsh Government’s coronavirus press conference, Mr Drakeford said the regulations would be amended to allow for the change.

But he warned that Covid-19 was ‘waking up for winter’ and said the Government was working to ‘turn back the tide’, but only restricting freedoms when necessary.

He added: ‘Last week, we changed the local restriction rules to enable people who live alone and are single parents to form a temporary bubble with another household in their local authority area to deal with loneliness and isolation.

HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS RISE 50% IN A WEEK WITH TWO THIRDS IN NORTH OF ENGLAND

Covid-19 hospital admissions continue to rise, with 491 newly-infected patients requiring NHS care on Wednesday – the most recent day figures are available for in England. 

This is up 50 per cent in a week (328 on Wednsday September 30) but down slightly on Tuesday this week (524). Almost three-quarters of all admissions are occurring in the North West, North East, Yorkshire and the Midlands, the data shows. 

On Wednesday 286 of the 491 hospitalisations in the North East, North West and Yorkshire alone (58 per cent).

That means nearly six in 10 admissions occurred in northern parts of the country whereas in the South East, South West and London, there were 168 people hospitalised with the virus (34 per cent of the total).

The Midlands recorded 81 more coronavirus cases and the East of England posted 17. London was the UK’s first epicentre of the disease, which researchers think allowed many Londoners to build some immunity to it.

They suggest that is why the capital is still reporting fewer cases, deaths and hospital admissions than most of the north, despite it being Britain’s most densely populated city.

The South East and South West have also enjoyed lower transmission because Covid-19 finds it difficult to spread in rural areas – a trend seen around the world.

Higher levels of poverty, cramped living conditions, colder weather and more people working people-facing jobs in the North may be explaining its higher rate, scientists say. 

‘Now, we intend to amend the regulations to allow children to take part in organised sporting activity, if these take place outside their county boundaries.’

Mr Drakeford said that where local restrictions had been in place for longest – in parts of south-east Wales – there was evidence that Covid-19 was ‘beginning to come under control’.

In Blaenau Gwent, there were more than 300 cases of the virus per 100,000 people, but this has now reduced to less than 100 cases per 100,000 people.

Mr Drakeford said the Welsh Government was ‘actively exploring the next steps’ with local authorities in such areas, but the pattern was not yet stable enough to lift restrictions.

On Friday, Public Health Wales said there had been a further 766 cases of coronavirus and two deaths of people with the virus.

This brings the total number of confirmed cases in Wales to 29,028 and deaths to 1,646.

Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board confirmed that four of its hospitals were now affected by coronavirus.

At the Royal Glamorgan Hospital, 135 cases and 25 deaths have been linked to a Covid-19 outbreak.

There have been 18 cases and four deaths linked to an outbreak at the Prince Charles Hospital and 16 cases and one death associated with one at the Princess of Wales Hospital.

Less than five cases of Covid-19 have been identified at Maesteg Hospital, where a ward has been closed to reduce further spread of the virus, the health board said.

Mr Drakeford previously wrote to Prime Minister Boris Johnson asking him to consider imposing travel restrictions on parts of England subjected to local lockdowns, similar to those in place in Wales.

On Friday, Mr Drakeford said he was yet to receive a reply from Mr Johnson but added there was ‘speculation’ that travel restrictions could be introduced in high incidence areas of England.

He told the press conference he was prepared to wait until Monday to hear of Mr Johnson’s plans and see how far they go in terms of protecting areas of the UK with low levels of the virus.

More follows.