Boris warns of tougher curbs and faces calls for shutdown

BORIS Johnson will decide today whether to introduce stricter coronavirus restrictions as he faces calls from Labour to bring in a national lockdown.

The Prime Minister warned yesterday that curbs were ‘probably about to get tougher’ as Government sources said more areas of England could be plunged into Tier Four within days.

Under the strict measures, already in place across three-quarters of the country, only essential shops such as supermarkets are allowed to open and people are meant to stay at home. Mr Johnson said he was also considering further closures of schools.

Cabinet sources said they expected the Government’s ‘Covid-O’ committee, which makes decisions on restrictions, would meet today to decide on the next steps.

Last night, Sir Keir Starmer demanded an immediate nationwide lockdown as he warned the ‘virus is clearly out of control’.

The Labour leader insisted there could be ‘no more dither, no more delay’, adding: ‘The longer you delay the difficult decisions, the worse it is on the health front, the worse it is on the economic front.’

Appearing on The Andrew Marr Show on BBC One yesterday, Mr Johnson said he was ‘ entirely reconciled to doing what it takes to get the virus down’ and warned of a ‘tough period ahead’.

The Prime Minister stuck by his prediction that the situation would be better by the spring, but said the Government was assessing whether Tier Four restrictions were tough enough to control the spread of the virus or if further steps were needed.

‘We’ve got to keep things under constant review,’ he said.