Johnson under pressure as UK coronavirus cases rise

Boris Johnson faced fresh pressure to consider a tighter national lockdown in the face of figures suggesting local measures to contain the spread of coronavirus were not working. Professor Calum Semple, a member of the Government's scientific advisory panel who specialises in disease outbreaks, recommended a "circuit breaker" be considered on a national basis in a bid to slow the virus, rather than trying to reduce it at a later stage. Case numbers have risen sharply in recent weeks, with the UK today recording 14,162 new cases of Covid-19 today. A fortnight before, on 22 September, there were 4,926 cases recorded. In Northern Ireland, 828 new cases of coronavirus have been...