Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the UK faces an ‘unquestionably difficult winter’ as rising rates of COVID-19 have prompted a new wave of restrictions across all four countries in the UK including wider use of facemasks, halving the number of guests allowed at weddings and a 10pm curfew on pubs, restaurants and takeaways.
Announcing the measures on Tuesday evening, Mr Johnson said he was doing so reluctantly, but ‘while the vast majority have complied with the rules, there have been too many breaches — too many opportunities for our invisible enemy to slip through undetected. The virus has stated to spread again in an exponential way. Infections are up, hospital admissions are climbing.’
‘If we follow these simple rules together, we will get through this winter together,’ he added. ‘There are unquestionably difficult months to come.'
On Wednesday the UK recorded 6,178 new cases of COVID-19, close to the record figure (6,201) from 1 May, although the comparison is misleading because the UK is conducting twice as many tests now.