UK coronavirus live: Nicola Sturgeon sets out Scotland’s new lockdown levels; Warrington to enter tier 3

A request made by Oxfordshire city council to move from tier 1 into tier 2 amid concern over rising numbers of infections among the vulnerable and elderly was refused by the UK government, it has emerged.

In a statement posted on Twitter, the council leader, Susan Brown, said there was disappointment from local council leaders of all parties, who had backed the recommendation made by Oxfordshire’s director of public health.

But the move was not supported by the county’s four Conservative MPs, creating a political divide with opponents accusing them of “politicised meddling”, the Oxford Mail reports.

In a joint statement, Conservative MPs John Howell (Henley), David Johnston (Wantage), Robert Courts (Witney), and Victoria Prentis (Banbury), said:

Public health must be the priority but coronavirus rates in much of Oxfordshire, outside of the city of Oxford, remain low. We would be concerned about the prospect of individuals and businesses in wider Oxfordshire being placed under Tier 2 restrictions on the basis of a problem that appears centred on the student population in Oxford city.

They added that they could see a case for placing the city under higher restrictions, but not their rural areas of the county.

However, the public health director, Ansaf Azhar, said that while the MPs claimed the infection rate among students in the city was the problem, he warned the uptick among the vulnerable and elderly in rural areas was actually the issue.

He said:

Across all areas of the county, we are starting to see a significant shift in the spread of the virus from people in their teens and 20s to older and more vulnerable age groups. This is a really concerning development. We know that, once the virus starts to spread to more vulnerable groups, then hospital cases will rise and deaths will inevitably follow.

He added:

We have seen what’s been happening across the north of England and how the virus has quickly taken hold across huge swathes of the community. Based on the current trajectory of the virus, we could well find ourselves in a similar position in just a few weeks’ time if we do not take collective action now.

The decision could be reviewed as early as next week.

I’m grateful to my colleague Richard Adams for flagging this.

Here are some of the key points from this afternoon’s No 10 lobby briefing in Westminster.

• [It may or may not come as a surprise that] Downing Street declined to praise cafes, pubs and restaurants offering to provide free meals for vulnerable children over half-term (see 10.56am.).

A spokesman, asked repeatedly if the prime minister welcomed the offer from businesses and some councils, said:

As we have set out before, we are in a different position now with schools back open to all and the vast majority of pupils back to school.

I believe the PM said during PMQs that free school meals will continue during term time and that he wants to continue to support families throughout the crisis so they have cash available to feed kids if they need to.

• People may be able to celebrate Christmas “as a family” this year, Downing Street said.

A spokesman said:

The PM has been clear previously that he is hopeful that in many ways we could be able to get some aspects of our lives back to normal by Christmas. “As I say, we’ve been clear about the ambition to ensure that people may celebrate Christmas as a family this year.”

• Boris Johnson continues to have full confidence in Baroness Dido Harding, executive chairwoman of NHS Test and Trace.

Asked if the prime minister had full confidence in her, a spokesman said: “He does.” Johnson acknowledged yesterday that the £12bn system, which he previously promised would be “world-beating”, needs to be improved.

The Welsh first minister, Mark Drakeford, has said a firebreak lockdown coming into force in Wales at 6pm is “a short, sharp shock that will save people’s lives”.

He told a press conference in Cardiff:

The clear advice we have is that we need to act urgently now because the virus is moving too fast. We have to act and have to act now.

Public Health Wales reported 45 deaths in people with Covid-19 this week, Drakeford said.

Drakeford said supermarkets only selling essential goods during Wales’ firebreak lockdown is “a simple matter of fair play”.

We are requiring many hundreds of small businesses to close on the high street right across Wales. We cannot do that and then allow supermarkets to sell goods that those people are unable to sell.

And we are looking to minimise the amount of time that people spend out of their homes during this two-week period. This is not the time to be browsing around supermarkets looking for non-essential goods.

Sturgeon draws on the six years of the second world war, saying we will get through this.

Wear face coverings, avoid crowded places (especially indoors), clean hands and surfaces, keep 2 metres apart, and self-isolate and get tested if you have symptoms, she reminds people.

Be kind, show empathy, and show love to others, Sturgeon says.

Some restrictions on business are likely to be necessary, she says, and at times might require businesses to limit trade significantly or close.

She says the chancellor’s UK-wide job support scheme doesn’t go far enough.

No matter what level they will be at, the following support will be available:

Businesses required by law to close will be eligible for grants of either £2,000 or £3,000 for every four weeks they have to remain closed.

And those which can remain open but can’t trade normally due to restrictions, will be eligible for grants of £1,400 or £2,100 for every four weeks the restrictions are in place.

She says no extra funding has been guaranteed for Scotland in yesterday’s announcement, so the Scottish government won’t be able to fund these measures indefinitely.

The Scottish government will be pressing for a resolution, therefore, she says.

She says they will move to regular testing of designated visitors to care homes, to NHS staff who visit care homes, to care at home workers, and to anyone admitted to hospital in an emergency.

They will also move to test asymptomatic people for surveillance purposes and to help manage outbreaks, she says.

She says the aim is to live with the virus with as few restrictions as possible.

This is possible because we got there over the summer, she says.

Anyone who was shielding should follow, as a minimum, the guidance for the general population, she says.

Additional advice for each level of restrictions for activities such as going to work and shopping can be found in the document published today, she says.

The chief medical officer will also send a letter to those concerned and a guide will shortly be published.

The national helpline is 08001114000.

She adds she seeks as far as possible to keep schools open, with safety measures in place.

Sturgeon says she doesn’t envisage returning to as severe a lockdown as the one imposed in late-March.

We are not back at square one. We have made progress in tackling the virus and we have more tools at our disposal now to control it.