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

  • Tough new restrictions aimed at halting the spread of Covid-19 in the North-East are due to come into force in parts of the region on Friday. The measures are set to be announced tomorrow, and will apply from just after midnight on Friday morning. It is understood the restrictions are likely to include a ban on socialising with anyone from a different household and a 10pm curfew on pubs.Newcastle, Northumberland, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Gateshead, County Durham and Sunderland are all expected to be included. 
  • There have been 328 new confirmed coronavirus cases in the North-East and North Yorkshire.
  • A further 11 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital in England, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals to 29,687, NHS England said on Wednesday. Patients were aged between 69 and 98 and all had known underlying health conditions. The dates of the deaths were between September 11 and September 15, with the majority on September 14. Five other deaths were reported with no positive Covid-19 test result. 
  • The Government said that as of 9am on Wednesday, there had been a further 3,991 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK. Overall, 378,219 cases have been confirmed. It also said a further 20 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Wednesday. This brings the UK total to 41,684. Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies show there have now been 57,500 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.
  • County Durham: 3,928 was 3,894; Darlington: 674 was 671; Gateshead: 1,676 was 1,638; Hartlepool: 756 was 744; Middlesbrough: 1,235 was 1,228; Newcastle: 2,085 was 2,034; North Tyneside: 1,168 was 1,144; North Yorkshire: 3,134 was 3,093; Northumberland: 1,851 was 1,826; Redcar and Cleveland: 828 was 827; South Tyneside: 1,293 was 1,257; Stockton: 1,150 was 1,143; ​Sunderland: 2,319 was 2,279 and York: 1,070 was 1,061.
  • The Riverside Stadium will welcome back football fans this weekend - but only 1,000 lucky supporters will have the chance to watch Middlesbrough play Bournemouth. Supporters are set to attend a men’s English professional football match for the first time since March this weekend after the EFL was given the go-ahead to play 10 matches in front of up to 1,000 spectators each. The games are part of the government’s pilot event programme to reintroduce spectators to venues on a socially-distanced basis amid the coronavirus pandemic.
  • A headteacher has warned her school is nearly at ‘breaking point’ due to the lack of coronavirus tests available. Jane Davis, who leads Lanchester Primary School in County Durham, said she receives up to 20 emails a day from desperate parents and is facing sever staff shortages. She described the Government’s testing system as ‘a complete farce’. Ms Davis said: “I have never experienced anything quite like this. My organisation almost on its knees already. I am receiving around ten to 20 emails daily from parents daily desperate to access tests and asking how they can get one as there are none available.
  • A network representing 1,150 schools in the North-East, led by head teachers, has written to the Education Secretary asking for school Covid testing to be prioritised in a bid to prevent staff shortages – a problem it describes as a "crisis". Based on feedback from schools and in consultation with its trustees, Schools North East is calling on Education Secretary Gavin Williamson to prioritise covid testing for teachers after difficulty has created a "significant" impact and left teachers out of school for days. Schools North East director, Chris Zarraga said: "Our schools have worked incredibly hard to ensure a safe return for students and staff despite constantly changing and even contradictory guidance, however delays in the testing system and the lack of availability at local test centres is causing unnecessary staff absence. "If this situation continues schools may be pushed to the point of cancelling classes and even closures."