BORIS Johnson will hold crunch lockdown talks with the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish leaders this afternoon as more four counties in Wales were given tough new local restrictions.
Nicola Sturgeon warned this morning there would be drastic new rules “within days” and the UK must have “coordinated action” to stop the surge in coronavirus cases.
The Scottish First Minister said she had spent the weekend locked up with her advisers to come up with a fresh plan to deal with the daily new infections – and would meet with the PM this afternoon.
Ms Sturgeon said: “Given that the virus does not respect borders – alignment across four nations, if possible, makes sense.
“I am also talking direct to the Prime Minister immediately after this press conference.
“I will impress upon him my view that we need decisive, urgent and as far as possible, given our individual responsibilities, coordinated action across the UK.
She warned that “the longer we wait to introduce new measures” the longer restrictions would have to be in place and there could be new measures within days.
She said: “I need to be absolutely straight with people, across Scotland additional restrictions will almost certainly be put in place … over the next couple of days.”
Mr Johnson is expected to make a statement tomorrow on how the UK will cope with coronavirus after a critical Cobra meeting.
Millions of people in Scotland are already living under tougher rules – including most of Glasgow who are banned from meeting indoors with other people.
The Welsh Government announced this morning that Bridgend, Merthyr Tydfil, Newport and Blaenau Gwent will be placed under a local lockdown from 6pm on Tuesday after an increase in coronavirus cases.
People will not be able to enter or leave those areas unless they have a good reason – such as for work or school.
And people will only be able to see people they don’t live with outdoors.
All pubs, restaurants and bars will also have to close at 11pm and people in all indoor areas over the age of 11 will have to wear a face mask.
Massive parts of England will also have tighter restrictions from tomorrow – including curfews in Lancashire and Merseyside.
The four nations have previously had different rules to deal with the epidemic – including the recently introduced rule of six.
But in Scotland, where children under the age of 12 were excluded from the six-person limit, kids may now be counted to try and tighten up the rules, Ms Sturgeon said today.
It comes after his two top scientists Professor Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance delivered a dire warning of the consequences if the tide in cases isn’t stopped.
They said Brits have to learn to live with the virus, and it won’t be over for at least six months.
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