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

  • A further 10 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital in England, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths reported in hospitals to 29,918, NHS England said on Monday. Patients were aged between 60 and 97 and all had known underlying health conditions. The deaths were between September 24 and September 27.
  • The Health Secretary Matt Hancock has further restrictions for the North-East which will ban two households from meeting up in 'any indoor setting.' The new measures, which will affect areas of the region already in local lockdown, will mean people from two households cannot meet anywhere indoors including all public venues. This will apply to County Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle, Sunderland, North and South Tyneside and Northumberland.
  • Newcastle’s council leader has slammed Matt Hancock’s move to impose tougher lockdown measures in the North-East – with local leaders seemingly left in the dark over the new rules. The Health Secretary revealed that, from Wednesday, September 30, people across seven council areas will be banned under law from mixing indoors in any setting, including pubs or restaurants. But the changes have sparked anger among local authority bosses, who say they were unaware an announcement was coming before Mr Hancock stood up in the House of Commons on Monday afternoon. Nick Forbes, Labour leader of Newcastle City Council, said local authorities have now “demanded clarity” and complained that such a sudden announcement, which was lacking in crucial details, “does nothing for public confidence”.
  • Downing Street said it expected students would be allowed to return home for Christmas. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said university students were subject to the same rules as the wider population in the areas where they live. “The rules for students are the same as those for the rest of the public. Universities can obviously issue advice to their students and I believe that’s what has been happening in recent days,” the spokesman said.
  • Downing Street did not rule out introducing further restrictions to limit the spread of coronavirus, including imposing a two-week “circuit break” and a ban on social mixing. Asked about reported plans, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “There’s nothing new beyond the position that was set out by the Prime Minister on Tuesday. We’ve said that we may require to take additional steps particularly in areas of high prevalence.” Asked about London, he said there was “no update” since the capital being added to the list of areas of concern. New national measures were not being anticipated this week, but any sudden change in the number of coronavirus cases could change this.
  • Downing Street has rejected calls to immediately review the 10pm curfew for pubs and restaurants in England. Asked if the restriction would be reconsidered, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “No. I would obviously say we keep all of our social distancing measures under review but no there’s nothing in that regard.” The spokesman said there are existing rules around how off-licences serve the public during the pandemic when asked about concerns of them being busy after the curfew time.
  • Downing Street has said it is unable to judge whether the rule of six was working to suppress the coronavirus spread, two weeks after if was introduced. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “What you continue to see in the statistics that have been published in recent days is that infection rates are rising across the country and in all age groups. We have introduced a package of measures over the course of recent weeks and the intention of those is to bring the virus under control.”
  • The Prime Minister has been urged to ensure online learning “becomes the norm” for university students. In a letter to Boris Johnson, the University and College Union (UCU) claimed university employers were “hiding behind the Government’s current sectoral guidance, with all the ambiguities associated with the term ‘blended learning'”. It added: “Whilst other sectors are being encouraged by the Government to work from home to help control the spread of the virus, universities are requiring staff to travel across their local regions to work on-site and in-person with any number of students.
  • Bans on loud music, singing and dancing have been imposed as part of new emergency coronavirus rules, as well as hefty fines for knowingly ignoring orders to self-isolate. Wide-ranging laws and the list of punishments were revealed in legal documents and came into force on Monday. Now, by law, people in England must self-isolate if they test positive for coronavirus, or are contacted by the test and trace service, or face fines starting from £1,000, rising to £10,000 for repeat offenders. Those who test positive must do so for 10 days after displaying symptoms, or from their test date if they are asymptomatic, while members of their household must isolate for 14 days.
  • Coronavirus infection rates in some of the worst-affected communities in England have soared, despite increased lockdown measures designed to slow its spread, analysis has suggested. Areas in the north west are among those to see several-fold increases in their seven-day rate of new Covid-19 cases, even where people have been ordered to limit the number of people they socialise with. Analysis of Public Health England data by the PA news agency suggests communities such as Blackburn with Darwen, Rochdale and Pendle all continue to have infection rates well in excess of the national average, several weeks after tailored restrictions were introduced.
  • The number of fines issued to rail passengers who fail to wear face coverings has risen sharply in the past month, figures suggest. British Transport Police (BTP) handed out 32 fines between June 15, when the new laws came in to place in England, and August 17. But the total figure rose to 81 by September 24, by which point the force had also stopped 54,175 people to remind them of the rules, and asked 3,842 people to leave the railway.
  • Trials of Covid-19 testing at airports should be introduced to help kickstart Britain’s aviation industry, a former transport secretary has said. Chris Grayling warned the sector is facing “mass job cuts” around the country as it is “barely able to operate” as a result of the virus. Speaking in the Commons, the Conservative MP said: “It does not need to be like this because there are ways in which we can at least get part of this industry going again. I’d call on ministers to work with the industry to do at least a trial of testing at the airport and before people fly."