Here are the key coronavirus updates from the last 24 hours.

  • The Government said a further 206 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Monday, bringing the UK total to 55,230. Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies for deaths where Covid-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate, together with additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days, show there have now been 71,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK.The Government said that, as of 9am on Monday, there had been a further 15,450 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK. It brings the total number of cases in the UK to 1,527,495.
  • The Prime Minister Boris Johnson has confirmed the national lockdown will end next week following four-weeks of restrictions. Appearing in the House of Commons via a video link, the PM this afternoon confirmed England would return to a three-tier system. He was expected to outline what Covid restrictions would be relaxed over the Christmas period, but instead detailed changes beyond December 2.
  • The Prime Minister has set out new measures to control coronavirus in England through the winter. The country will face tiered restrictions until the end of March when the current lockdown ends on December 2.
  • Here are the key points from the PM's statement to the Commons.
  • Sir Keir Starmer said there are “huge gaps” in the coronavirus plan announced by Boris Johnson. “Labour has backed the Prime Minister on all the big decisions the Government’s had to take to protect public health, including the two national lockdowns,” he said. “We’ve done so because we want there to be a national consensus on difficult issues like this and because we’ll always put public health first. “Ideally, I’d like to be in a position to do so again. But there are huge gaps in this plan, huge uncertainties and huge risks. We will await the detail, we want the Prime Minister to get this right. He’s got a week to do so.”
  • The Prime Minister said the UK has “more than enough for everyone in the UK, the crown dependencies and the overseas territories” when it comes to vaccines. He told the Commons: “The most hopeful advance of all is how vaccines are now edging ever closer to liberating us from the virus, demonstrating emphatically that this is not a pandemic without end.We can take great heart from today’s news, which has the makings of a wonderful British scientific achievement. The vaccine developed with astonishing speed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca is now one of three capable of delivering a period of immunity. We don’t yet know when any will be ready and licensed but we have ordered 100 million doses of the Oxford vaccine and over 350 million in total, more than enough for everyone in the UK, the crown dependencies and the overseas territories.
  • Boris Johnson said that rapid testing is being deployed in the NHS and in care homes. He said: “As soon as a vaccine is approved, we will dispense it as quickly as possible. But given that this can’t be done immediately, we will simultaneously use rapid turnaround testing, the lateral flow testing that gives results within 30 minutes to identify those without symptoms so they can isolate and avoid transmission. We’re beginning to deploy these tests in our NHS and in care homes in England so people will once again be able to hug and hold hands with loved ones instead of waving at them through a window.”
  • Funding for the Test and Trace scheme will rise to £22 billion this financial year, according to the Government’s winter plan.
  • The plan said: “This winter strategy is backed by an additional £7 billion for NHS Test and Trace to support increased testing, including community testing and ongoing improvements to tracing, taking the overall funding provided for Test and Trace this financial year to £22 billion.”
  • The Duke of Cambridge has personally called Oxford researchers to congratulate them on their vaccine breakthrough, telling them: “I’m so thrilled that you’ve cracked it”. The British jab by AstraZeneca and Oxford University has been found to be up to 90% effective in preventing Covid-19.
  • Thousands of tests have yet to be delivered to an area of England with one of the highest Covid-19 infection rates, Boris Johnson has been warned. Labour’s Dame Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) told the Commons: “Hull has had the highest Covid infection rate in the United Kingdom, and two weeks ago Hull was promised 10,000 lateral flow tests, but today they have still not arrived. So when governing during a global pandemic, shouldn’t the Prime Minister focus on delivering on the ground what has already been announced, rather than grand new promises lifted from the Downing Street PR grid?” Prime Minister Mr Johnson said he would “take up immediately” the point raised about Hull and “try to understand why they haven’t got the lateral flow tests she rightly wants to see”.
  • An MP has urged the Government to make its Covid-19 communications “inclusive of all disabled people” by using signers at press conferences. Labour’s Vicky Foxcroft (Lewisham, Deptford) told the Commons: “On October 12, I asked the Prime Minister if he would ensure British Sign Language was available at future press conferences. “He said ‘the point is registered’. Registered but not delivered. Six weeks since that question, eight months since the start of the pandemic, still no progress on a sign language interpreter.
  • Boris Johnson said that if the UK “blows it with a big blowout Christmas”, the country will pay for it in the new year. Conservative former minister Sir Desmond Swayne said: “The last ruler that told us how we may or may not celebrate Christmas was Oliver Cromwell. It didn’t end well, did it?” Mr Johnson responded: “(Sir Desmond) is completely right in his basic instincts, which I share, and his fundamental libertarian yearnings which I also share. And I love Christmas, I love a big get-together. I think the trouble is that the people of this country can see that there is a real risk that if we blow it at Christmas with a big blowout Christmas, then we’ll pay for it in the new year, and they want a cautious and balanced approach and that’s what we will deliver for the whole UK.”
  • Hopes have been raised that vaccines could end the coronavirus pandemic after a British jab was found to be up to 90% effective in preventing Covid-19.
  • AstraZeneca and Oxford University said their jab is effective in stopping most people from contracting coronavirus and falling seriously ill, with some indications that it can also prevent people passing the virus to others. The jab is likely to be rolled out in the UK from December, with the bulk of vaccination in the new year. One of the dosing patterns used by the scientists – and tested on about a third of those in the study – suggested 90% effectiveness if one half dose is given followed by a further full dose. Another dosing pattern showed 62% efficacy when one full dose is given followed by another full dose.
  • The director of the Theatres Trust has said he welcomes news that venues will be able to remain open in some parts of the country. Jon Morgan said it would be a “huge relief” for theatres in areas which are placed under Tiers 1 and 2 restrictions.
  • However, it remains the case that, for the majority of theatres, it is simply not viable to reopen with social distancing in place, so many theatres will not reopen even in the lower tiers,” he added.