The House of Commons is to be recalled again to sit on Wednesday morning following a request by the Government, it has been confirmed.
The Prime Minister will make a statement in the Commons providing a COVID-19 update and MPs will consider related regulations.
The news comes as Boris Johnson is set to address the nation at 8pm this evening, when he will announce further steps to tackle the rise in cases of COVID-19. It is expected that Mr Johnson will announce a nationwide lockdown, with the closure of all schools across the country.
Earlier on Monday, First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon announced a new lockdown for the whole of Scotland from midnight, with people being required to stay at home. Wales and Northern Ireland are already under lockdown measures.
On Sunday, Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer called for a nationwide lockdown to be implemented ‘within 24 hours’, saying ‘the virus is clearly out of control’. The Chair of the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee Jeremy Hunt tweeted on Monday that schools and borders should be closed and all household mixing should be banned ‘RIGHT AWAY’.
The UK has now reported more than 50,000 cases of Coronavirus each day for six consecutive days, recording 54,990 new infections on Sunday. Cases of COVID-19 are increasing rapidly throughout most of the country, fuelled largely by the new, more transmissible variant of the virus.
