THE Government said that, as of 9am on Sunday, there had been a further 5,693 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK, taking the overall number of cases confirmed to 434,969.

The Government also said a further 17 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Sunday.

This brings the UK total to 41,988.

Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies show there have now been 57,600 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

In other coronavirus related news:

  • A further 17 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital in England, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths reported in hospitals to 29,908, NHS England said on Sunday. Patients were aged between 49 and 93 and all, except one aged 59, had known underlying health conditions. The deaths were between September 21 and September 26. Two other deaths were reported with no positive Covid-19 test result.
  • Wales’s First Minister Mark Drakeford said in a statement: “Following a worrying rise in cases of coronavirus across South Wales, we took action on Friday to introduce local coronavirus restrictions in Llanelli and local restrictions will come into force in our two largest cities – Cardiff and Swansea – tonight. We are now taking further action and placing three more areas under local restrictions in South Wales – Neath Port Talbot, Torfaen, and the Vale of Glamorgan – because we are seeing rising rates in these three areas. These areas also share borders with local authority areas where rates are much higher. Introducing restrictions in any parts of Wales is always an incredibly difficult decision for us to make. But we’re acting to protect people’s health and to try and break the chain of transmission and stop the situation from getting worse. This is not a regional lockdown – this is a series of local restrictions in each local authority area to respond to a specific rise in cases in each area, which have distinct and unique chains of transmission. In some places, such as Caerphilly and Newport, we have seen really positive falls in response and we hope they can begin to be relaxed if they continue. It’s really important everyone follows the rules where they live. We need everyone’s help to bring coronavirus under control. We need everyone to pull together and to follow the measures which are there to protect you and your loved ones.”
  • Sacha Lord, night-time economy adviser for Greater Manchester, tweeted: “It’s very clear, across the UK, that this ill-thought-out 10pm curfew, has pushed everyone out of venues with socially distanced measures, into the streets, into off-licences, supermarkets, overcrowded public transport and house parties. Every operator predicted this. Shambolic.”
  • Former Commons Speaker John Bercow has warned Boris Johnson against sidelining Parliament by pushing through coronavirus laws without a vote or debate before they are enacted. Mr Bercow told BBC Radio 4’s World This Weekend: “Parliament has been unavoidably constrained by Covid-19 but it should not now avoidably constrain or hamper itself. Debate, scrutiny and votes are the lifeblood of a pluralist system. Without them – and they are tremendously important safeguards – what you have is Government by executive fiat and it seems to me that there is a world of difference between the situation six months ago and that which pertains today.”
  • On the 10pm pubs curfew, shadow justice secretary David Lammy told BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show: “There cannot be a situation in which we have two different public health messages to the people of this country. The Government is the lead, the Government has the science, so we support the Government in the restrictions it has to bring forward, but it does look like the 10pm – it’s not clear where that came from – has led to a situation where people are bubbling out of pubs, they’re hanging around towns and they’re potentially spreading the virus.”
  • Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden insisted there was “definitely science” behind the 10pm curfew for hospitality venues. He told BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show: “There is definitely science behind it, that’s why we’re requiring people to be seated in pubs and restaurants, so that stops the flow of them to and from the bar. We are reducing the closing times to stop people staying later and drinking. And the point about all of this is that everyone has their part to play. If we all play by the rules, we can ensure that there are not further, more draconian restrictions.”
  • On students, shadow culture secretary Jo Stevens told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday: “We have to put safety and public health first obviously, but we have said, Labour has said, we think that students should be allowed home at Christmas and to enable them to do that we need an effective test, trace and isolate system in place.”
  • MPs must share in the “dreadful burden” of decision-making on coronavirus restrictions, Conservative former minister Steve Baker has said. He is one of at least 40 Tory rebels who are pushing the Government to give MPs a chance to debate and vote on Covid-19 rules before they come into force. Mr Baker told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday: “MPs should be sharing in the dreadful burden of decision in these circumstances and not just retrospectively being asked to approve what the Government has done.”