IT’S COVID HYSTERIA

Supermarkets ban sock sales ++ CCTV spies on social distancing ++ Road checks on Welsh border ++ Teacher threatens playdate pupils with police

BIZARRE lockdown measures put Britain in the grip of ‘hysteria’ last night.

In an extraordinary move, shoppers in Wales were banned from buying ‘non-essential’ items such as socks.

Toasters, bedding, towels, cards, stationery and candles were also taken off sale – guarded by ‘no entry’ signs and plastic sheeting.

On the border with England police forces prepared extra patrols to catch half-term holidaymakers making journeys not judged essential under a circuit-breaker lockdown.

The Mail can also reveal millions of Britons are being secretly watched under a governmentbacked project to monitor social distancing.

And Scotland unveiled a five-tier lockdown plan – two more levels than south of the border.

‘We are succumbing to collective hysteria,’ said former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith. ‘A game of hopscotch has developed where devolved leaders vie to be the most extreme and

absurd.’ sir Iain added: ‘The losers are the British people.’

In a final twist, a head teacher in Greater Manchester threatened to report parents to the police if they continued allowing ‘sleep overs’ or ‘going to each other’s houses for tea’.

As a leading scientific adviser warned that Christmas family gatherings were ‘wishful thinking’:

■ Warrington and parts of Nottinghamshire were the latest districts to face the toughest Tier Three curbs;

■ Covid cases fell among teenagers and half of local authorities in england recorded fewer infections;

■ The sage group of scientific advisers said the crucial r number had dropped;

■ Official figures showed coronavirus was only the 19th most common cause of death in september;

■ Another 20,530 cases were reported yesterday, along with 224 deaths;

■ Hospitals were told by health chiefs that operations must not be cancelled unless it was ‘absolutely unavoidable’;

■ Nicola sturgeon demanded even more money from Westminster to fund her draconian restrictions;

■ Sage documents showed that only one in ten obeyed 14-day quarantine orders;

■ A Mail investigation revealed private consultants were being paid £7,000 a day for test-and-trace advice.

Yesterday supermarket staff in Wales covered up kettles and phone chargers on shelves, as first minister Mark Drakeford banned the sale of ‘ non- essential’ items during a 17-day firebreak lockdown that started at 6pm last night.

Tesco and Lidl workers covered shelves of supposed non-essentials with plastic sheets to stop customers buying them ahead of the start of the restrictions.

Crime scene-style tape was stretched over shelves of candles at a Tesco in Pontypool. In swansea, the supermarket chain erected ‘no entry’ signs to block off children’s clothing.

Mr Drakeford said the measures were about ‘saving lives, not Christmas’.

But he was ridiculed when it emerged that alcohol could still be sold, effectively making it ‘essential’. Furious customers shared photographs of entire aisles of items under wraps.

Many retailers will be forced to shut in Wales but food shops, off-licences and pharmacies can stay open.

The Labour-run Welsh government was unable to provide clarity to retailers on what was defined as ‘essential’ yesterday afternoon. Welsh Conservative andrew RT Davies tweeted: ‘The power is going to their heads.’

Traffic police on both sides of the border are setting up checkpoints to snare half-term holidaymakers. Officers who are ‘not satisfied with their explanation’ can turn back families. extra patrols in Wales will try to stop drivers coming from high-Covid parts of england.

In england, those making ‘non-essential’ journeys from Wales will be stopped by a Gloucestershire Police operation covering routes into the Forest of Dean.

Drivers will be encouraged to turn around and head back to Wales if officers ‘are not satisfied with their explanation’, a spokesman said.

North Wales Chief Inspector Jeff Moses said: ‘sadly I am sure there will be lots of people trying to come to Wales. There’s lots of work going on in the background as I am sure you’re aware.’

In scotland, First Minister Miss sturgeon muddied the waters by introducing a harsher five-level system of restrictions, to rival the three-tier system elsewhere.

Her new model will come into force from November 2 but she was accused of using ‘manufactured grievances’ over coronavirus in her battle for independence after she claimed that scotland could run out of money to prop up its businesses without a massive financial injection from Westminster.

Today the Daily Mail can also reveal that cameras installed to monitor traffic have been reprogrammed to snoop on pedestrians and check whether they are socially distancing. The Big Brother-style project, launched without public consultation, involves town centre cameras tracking the movements of ordinary people ‘to help the Government’.