Millions of people are facing tougher restrictions on their lives after Boris Johnson announced a new coronavirus alert system and ordered the shutdown of pubs across
Merseyside. The move came after government medical advisers gave a chilling warning that hospitals are now treating more patients for Covid-19 than when the first national lockdown was imposed in March, with infections increasing fourfold in the past three weeks and
spreading into older and more vulnerable groups. Papers released late yesterday showed that the prime minister’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies was advising him to consider immediate new restrictions to reverse an “exponential” rise in cases as long ago as 21 September.