THE Prime Minister is reportedly considering a nationwide curfew on restaurants, bars and pubs, which would see them close earlier.

Boris Johnson is understood to be considering the curfew if local lockdown restrictions are unable to bring the spread of the virus under control.

According to the Sunday Telegraph, the PM could introduce restrictions in England forcing pubs, restaurants and bars to close at either 10pm ot 11pm.

It comes an academic who advises the Government said the UK needs to act fast to stop cases growing out of control, with a delay of even a few days potentially “dangerous".

Peter Openshaw, professor of experimental medicine, Imperial College London, said a “trickle” of cases can turn into a “cascade”, adding that if people do not abide by the “rule of six” now then the country faces going back into “hard lockdown”.

His comments come as concerns grow over an increase in Covid-19 cases in care homes, prompting the Government to send an alert to care providers to highlight the rising rates and to call for action.

The letter, which was sent on Friday, urges care bosses to “take the necessary action to prevent and limit outbreaks”, pointing out that in the last three days there had been an increase in notifications of coronavirus cases in care homes.

At the moment it is the workforce that is most affected, but the letter says that “clearly” there is a risk that the virus will spread to residents and in some cases already has.

Prof Openshaw, who is a member of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag) which advises the Government on the threat posed by new and emerging respiratory viruses, said if the virus is in care homes it will inevitably lead to hospital admissions and deaths.

Speaking on Sky’s Ridge On Sunday, he said: “We know that these are very vulnerable pockets. It’s not just in the younger people, it’s starting to appear in people more vulnerable and that inevitably is going to be followed by hospital admissions and deaths so we need to act quickly.

“And this isn’t a game. We shouldn’t be out trying to party as hard as we can in the run up to Monday’s lockdown.

“We should all be really thinking about what we can do now to slow down the spread.”

Speaking about the rise in cases, Prof Openshaw said: “I think everyone is in agreement that we really need to act very quickly now in order to prevent this from growing exponentially.

“I think that’s the main point is that we must act fast because it’s so much harder to get this sort of thing under control if you delay.

“Even a few days is potentially going to be quite dangerous now at this particular moment.”

Former chief scientific adviser and member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) Sir Mark Walport has warned that the country is “on the edge of losing control” of Covid-19.

Asked if he thinks Sir Mark is right, Prof Openshaw told Ridge: “Well yes I think that is right.”