Matt Hancock BANS households in parts of Manchester, Lancashire and Yorkshire from meeting indoors

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New lockdown for the north: Matt Hancock BANS households in parts of Manchester, Lancashire and Yorkshire from meeting indoors from TONIGHT after repeated rule breaches led to spike in new Covid cases

  • Councils going back into partial lockdown are Burnley, Hyndburn and Pendle
  • Mr Hancock said it is ‘with a heavy heart’ that the measures were put in place
  • He said ‘a lack of social distancing’ is part of the reason coronavirus cases rose

By Jemma Carr For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has banned households in parts of Manchester, Lancashire and Yorkshire from meeting indoors from midnight tonight.

He claimed the new lockdown measures were put in force after repeated rule breaches led to a spike in new coronavirus cases.

The councils going back into a partial lockdown are Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle, Rossendale, Bradford, Calderdale and Kirklees. 

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has banned households in parts of Manchester, Lancashire and Yorkshire from meeting indoors from tonight

ENGLAND SUFFERED THE MOST EXCESS DEATHS IN EUROPE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

England had the highest level of excess deaths in Europe over the coronavirus pandemic, new figures revealed today.

By the end of May, England had seen the highest overall excess deaths — fatalities from all causes that are above the level that would normally be expected — out of 21 European countries compared by the Office for National Statistics.

While other countries had higher spikes in excess deaths between February and June, England had the longest continuous period of elevated mortality rate – meaning it had the highest level of excess deaths overall.

Excess deaths include fatalities from all causes, but they can be used as evidence of how severe coronavirus outbreaks have been – because not all deaths caused by the virus are recorded by authorities.

It was Spain and Italy that suffered the largest spikes in excess deaths, called ‘peaks’, suggesting they faced the hardest hits on the continent.

Bergamo, one of the first places in Europe to go into lockdown, had the highest peak in excess mortality. It saw 847.7 per cent more deaths than usual in the week ending 20 March.

The UK’s highest peak of excess deaths was recorded in Brent, at 357.5 per cent at the height of Britain’s crisis, in the week ending 17 April.

Mr Hancock told Sky News: ‘We’re looking at the data and unfortunately we’ve seen across parts of northern England an increase in the number of cases of coronavirus.

‘So today I held a meeting of the Government’s Gold Committee and working with local leaders – including for instance Andy Burnham, the mayor Greater Manchester –  we’ve decided that we need to take greater action across Greater Manchester, East Lancashire and parts of West Yorkshire.

‘So from midnight tonight, we are banning households meeting up indoors. 

‘We take this action with a heavy heart but unfortunately it’s necessary because we’ve seen that households meeting up and a lack of social distancing is one of the causes of this rising rate of coronavirus and we will do whatever is necessary to keep the country safe.’

The north west has the highest number of coronavirus cases with 45,896 – with 629.4 people infected per 100,000 residents.

Yorkshire and The Humber has the second-highest infection rate – with 581.6 people infected out of every 100,000 residents.

Mr Hancock added: ‘Across parts of northern England we’ve seen an increase in the rates of coronavirus and one of the reasons for that increase is that we’ve seen households gathering and not abiding by the social distancing rules.

‘And that means that we’ve had to take the decision to ban households meeting together indoors.’

The drastic new measures come the same day Mr Hancock warned a second wave was ‘starting to roll across Europe’ and pledged to take action to stop another coronavirus catastrophe in the UK.

But ministers have been urged to calm down over the threat, with top scientists admitting it is unlikely the virus will ever be eradicated and calling on Britain to ‘learn to live’ with it to avoid any further damage to the economy amid fears the UK is on track to suffer its worst recession in 300 years.

A further 38 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in Britain today, bringing the total number of the confirmed deaths during the pandemic to 45,999.

The Department of Health figures released today revealed 38 died from the virus in England while Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales reported no new deaths.

It was also announced that another 846 across the UK had tested positive for the life-threatening virus, which is up from the 763 recorded yesterday. 

The latest death toll is lower than yesterday when 78 deaths were recorded in Britain and is also down from last Thursday when 53 deaths were recorded.