Boris Johnson is reportedly set to put England into a full lockdown with schools closed for in person learning.

He is due to make an announcement to the nation at 8pm this evening.

ITV political editor Robert Peston tweeted: ‘PM will be directly addressing the nation. It won’t be a press conference. Tier 4 restrictions will be imposed everywhere. Schools closed. No more team games in parks. But outdoor exercise will still be allowed.’

The threat level from the virus is also set to be raised to the highest level of 5, the BBC reported. It means that there is a ‘material risk of healthcare services being overwhelmed’.

A No 10 spokesman said that the move to increase restrictions was in response to the ‘rapidly escalating’ numbers of infections following the emergence of the new variant, which is more transmissible.

Parliament will be recalled on Wednesday so MPs can debate the measures.

A No 10 spokesman said: ‘The spread of the new variant of Covid-19 has led to rapidly escalating case numbers across the country.

‘The Prime Minister is clear that further steps must now be taken to arrest this rise and to protect the NHS and save lives.’

Earlier, Mr Johnson warned there would be ‘tough’ weeks to come as cases continue to surge.

The latest data show a 41% rise in the number of confirmed coronavirus patients in hospital in England between Christmas Day and January 3, figures which have caused alarm in Whitehall and the health service.

‘If you look at the numbers there’s no question we will have to take tougher measures and we will be announcing those in due course,’ the prime minister said during a visit to Chase Farm Hospital in north London.

With 78% of England’s population already under the toughest current restrictions, ministers are examining how successful the Tier 4 measures – which came into force for the first time on December 20 – have been.

Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt called for immediate action to close schools, shut borders and ban household mixing, saying the situation was ‘off-the-scale worse’ than previous winter crises faced by the NHS.

‘In the face of exponential growth even waiting an extra day causes many avoidable deaths so these plans must now be urgently accelerated,’ he said.

More follows.

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