CORONAVIRUS

Coronavirus: Record rate of infection puts Britain on red alert

7,000 new cases as virus hits highest daily level
Further restrictions on the capital will be put to the cabinet next week
Further restrictions on the capital will be put to the cabinet next week
PA

Daily coronavirus cases topped 7,000 for the first time in Britain yesterday, dashing hopes that the “rule of six” was weakening a second wave of infection.

A death toll of 71, twice as many as a week ago, and a doubling in ten days of the number on ventilators to 259 confirmed the sharply worsening trend.

Boris Johnson will prepare the nation for more bad news in a Downing Street press conference today, with Merseyside on the brink of joining the northeast under tougher restrictions.

The prime minister will be flanked by Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, and Sir Patrick Vallance, the chief scientific adviser, for the first time since announcing the England-wide ban on gatherings of more than six people three