Prime Minister Johnson.

Yeah, Mr Speaker.

With your permission, I will make a statement on our continuing fight against coronavirus on how we intend to fulfill our simultaneous objectives saving lives, protecting the NHS while keeping our Children in school on our economy, running, protecting jobs and livelihoods.

This morning, the deputy chief medical officer set out the stark reality of the second wave of this virus.

The number of cases has quadrupled in the last three weeks.

There are now more people in hospital with co vid than when we went into lock down on March.

The 23rd on deaths are already rising.

And of course, there are those who say that on that logic, we should go back into a full national lock down of indefinite duration, closing schools and businesses, telling people again, toe say, at home, as we did in March once again shattering our lives and our society, I do not believe that would be the right course.

We would not only be depriving our Children of their education, we would do such damage to our economy is to erode our long term ability to fund, the NHS and other crucial public services.

And on the other side of the argument, there are those who think that the patients of the public is now exhausted, that we should abandon the fight against co vid.

Stand aside, Let nature take her course on call a halt to these repressions of liberty.

And of course I understand those emotions.

I understand the frustration of those who have bean chafing under the restrictions, the sacrifices they have made.

But we were, if we were to follow that course, Mr Speaker on, let the virus rip, then the bleak mathematics dictate that we would suffer not only an intolerable death toll from co vid.

We would put such a huge strain on our NHS within uncontrolled second spike that our doctors and nurses would be simply unable to devote themselves the other treatments for cancer heart disease, hundreds more that have already being delayed on that would be delayed again with serious long term damage to the health of the nation.

Andi, I'm afraid it is no answer to say that we could let the virus take hold among the young on fit while shielding the elderly on vulnerable because the virus would then spread with such velocity in the general population that there would be no way of stopping it from spreading among the elderly.

And even if the virus is less lethal for the under sixties, there will still be many younger people for whom, alas, it remains lethal.

So, Mr Speaker, we don't want to go back to another national locked down.

We can't that the virus rip on DSO.

We followed since June, a balanced approach with the support of many members across the house to keep the are down while keeping schools on the economy going on.

Controlling the virus by changing our behavior, so is to restrict its spread.

That's why we have the rule of six on.

We have restrictions such as the A 10 p.m. Closing time on our hospitality sector.

Mr.

Speaker, I take no pleasure whatsoever in imposing restrictions on these businesses, many of which have gone to great lengths to reopen a safely a za possible.

Nor do I want to stop people enjoying themselves, but we must act to save lives on.

The evidence shows that in changing our behavior in restricting transmission between us, our actions are saving lives left unchecked, each person with the virus will infect, on average, between 2.7 and three others.

But sage assess that the current are nationally is between 1.2 at 1.5.

So we're already suppressing that are toe well below its natural level, which is why the virus is not spreading as quickly as it did in March.

But we need to go further.

In recent months, we have worked with local leaders to counter local spikes with targeted restrictions.

But this local approach has inevitably produced different sets of rules in different parts of the country that are now complex toe understand on to enforce.

So Justus, we simplified our national rules with the rule of six.

We will now simplify and standardized our local rules by introducing a three tiered system of local co vid alert levels in England set it medium high and very high.

The medium alert level will cover most of the country which will cover most of the country on will consist of the current national measures.

This includes the rule of six on the closure of hospitality.

10 p.m. The high alert level reflects the interventions in many local areas at the moment.

This primarily aims to reduce household the household transmission by preventing all mixing between different households or support bubbles indoors.

In these areas.

The rule of six will continue to apply outdoors, where it is harder for the virus to spread in public spaces as well as private gardens.

Most areas, which are already subject to local restrictions, will automatically move into the high alert level as a result of rising infection rates.

Nottinghamshire, eastern West Cheshire on a small area of hi peak, will also move into the high alert level.

The very high alert level will apply where transmission rates are rising most rapidly, on where the NHS could soon be under unbearable pressure.

Without further restrictions in these areas, the government will set a baseline of prohibiting social mixing indoors on din private gardens and I'm sorry to say, closing pubs and bars.

We want to create the maximum possible local consensus behind this more severe local action.

So in each area we will work with local government leaders on the additional measures which should be taken.

This could lead to further restrictions on the hospitality, leisure, entertainment or personal care sectors, but retail schools and universities will remain open as my right on your friend, the chancellor has set out.

The government will expand its unprecedented economic support to assist those affected by these decisions.

Extending our job support scheme to cover two thirds of the wages of those in any business that is required to close and providing those businesses with a cash grant of up to £3000 a month instead of £1500 every three weeks.

We will also provide local authorities across England with around a billion pounds of new financial support on top of our £3.6 billion towns.

Fund Andi for very high areas, we will give further financial support for local test and trace and local enforcement on assistance from the armed forces, not for not for enforcement but rather to support local services if desired.

In the local area.

Mr Speaker, I can report that we've bean able to reach agreement with leaders in Merseyside.

Local authorities in the Liverpool City region will move into the very high alert level from Wednesday.

In addition to the baseline I've outlined.

This is Aziz Well, that is a swell as pubs and bars in Merseyside, gyms on leisure centers, betting shops, adult gaming centers and casinos will also close.

I'd like to put on record my thanks to Steve Rotherham and his colleagues for their cooperation in very difficult circumstances.

Engagement with other leaders in the northwest, the northeast on Yorkshire on Humber is continuing.

I know how difficult this is.

They like us, like everyone in this house are grappling with very riel dilemmas.

But we cannot let the NHS fall over when lives are at stake.

So let me repeat three offer that we're making to those local authorities work with us on these difficult but necessary measures in the areas that are rated very high in return for more support for local tests and trace more funding for local enforcement.

The offer of help from the armed services on the job support scheme, as announced by the Chancellor, I believe not toe act would be unforgivable.

So I hope that rapid progress can be made in the coming days.

Regulations for all three co vid local alert levels are being laid today.

There will be debated and voted on tomorrow before coming into force on Wednesday.

We will also keep these measures under constant review, including a four week sunset clause for interventions in very high areas, a postcode search on gov dot UK as well as the NHS Co vid 19 app will show which local alert level applies in each area on.

We're also publishing updated guidance to explain what the co vid alert levels mean for those who are clinically extremely vulnerable.

Andi While these levels specifically apply to England, we continue to work closely with the devolved administrations to tackle this virus across the whole United Kingdom.

Mr.

Speaker, this is not how we want to live our lives.

But this is the narrow path we have to tread between the social and economic former of a full lock down on the massive human on indeed economic cost of an uncontained epidemic, with local and regional and national government coming together in a shared responsibility on the shared effort to deliver ever better testing and tracing evermore efficient enforcement of the rules on with ever improving therapies with the mountains of PP on the ventilators that we have stockpiled with ALS, the lessons we have learned in the last a few months.

We're becoming better and better at fighting this virus on.

Though I must warn the house again that the weeks and months ahead will continue to be difficult on will test the mettle of this country.

I have no doubt at all that together we will succeed and I can I commend this statement to the house.