Here are the latest developments from the last 24 hours

  • A further 965 more people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the North-East and North Yorkshire. This brings the total number of cases recorded in the region to 55,020. There have been a total of 2,894 reported Covid deaths in the North-East since the start of the pandemic and 4,949 in the Yorkshire and Humber, according to the Government’s figures.
  • The Government said, as of 9am on Sunday, there had been a further 16,982 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK. It brings the total number of cases in the UK to 722,409. The Government also said a further 67 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19, as of Sunday. This brings the UK total to 43,646.
  • One of Darlington's best-loved butchers and pie-makers has had to temporarily close its town centre shop due to staff testing positive for Covid. A notice on the windows of the Taylor's butchers shop on Skinnergate says it is has closed due to 'unforeseen circumstances' but hopes to re-open as soon as possible.
  • Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has written to political leaders in Westminster urging them to help secure a “fair financial framework” for local lockdowns.Mr Burnham told Boris Johnson, Sir Keir Starmer and other party leaders that “this is not just a Greater Manchester issue” as he called for a consistent new package for Tier 3 restrictions. Backed by Liverpool Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram, he called for a “full and fair furlough scheme” covering 80% of wages or at least the national minimum wage, support for the self-employed and improved compensation for businesses.
  • Michael Gove defended police being given data from NHS Test and Trace, saying that officers are operating in a “very proportionate way”. He said: “I think that actually the behavioural effects show that the majority of people, the overwhelming majority of people, want to be part of a national effort to fight the virus. And of course there will be some, a very, very small minority, who will be, you know, heedless of the consequences of their actions."
  • There is no evidence to suggest that Covid-19 has become less dangerous despite falling death rates from the virus, a senior medic has said. Dr Alison Pittard, dean of the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine in London, said that although treatment is improving, social distancing is also having an impact on transmission and viral load. She said: “It is still a very deadly virus, although the majority of people who still become infected will have a very, very minor illness or may not even know that they are ill at all. For those people that require hospital admission, for those that come to intensive care it’s still a very severe disease.”
  • Christmas will be “tough” this year and not the “usual celebration” it traditionally is, Sage member Professor Jeremy Farrar has said. He told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday that he did not believe a coronavirus vaccine would be ready for the festive period. Prof Farrar said: “Christmas will be tough this year. I don’t think it’s going to be the usual celebration it is and all families coming together, I’m afraid. I think we have to be honest and realistic and say that we are in for three to six months of a very difficult period."
  • People will be “afraid” to report having coronavirus symptoms if fines for failing to self-isolate increase, a Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) expert has said. Professor Lucy Yardley, of the University of Bristol, told the Andrew Marr show: “I think the effect of fines is very likely to be that people will be afraid to report any symptoms. Because the consequence can be that not only them, but family members and work colleagues would be asked to self-isolate when they really couldn’t afford to. So there’s a real problem with fines.”
  • The “worst-case scenario” of 50,000 cases of coronavirus per day across the UK is “almost exactly where we are at”, Sage member Professor Jeremy Farrar has claimed. He told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday: “The ONS survey, which is the best data in the country at the moment, shows that 27,000 people are getting this infection every day. But that was until the 10th of October. Today it will be over 50,000, just as the CMO (chief medical officer) Chris Whitty and (the Government’s chief scientific The “second best time” for a national circuit-breaker lockdown is now, according to Sage member Professor Jeremy Farrar.
  • Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove has ruled out a national “circuit-breaker” lockdown to control the coronavirus resurgence “at the moment”. Asked if the Government would take the measure on Sky’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday, he flatly replied: “No. It would seem an error to try to impose on every part of the country the same level of restriction when we know that the disease is spreading more intensively and quicker in some parts of the country.”
  • Former military fighter pilots have been recruited to fly drones carrying Covid-19 samples, test kits and personal protective equipment between hospitals in the UK. Apian, which was founded by NHS staff as part of the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme, aims to establish a network of secure air corridors for electric drones to navigate via satellite-enabled GPS. It is hoped that the drone delivery service will avoid courier call-out waiting times, free up NHS staff, reduce unnecessary physical contact and minimise the risk of secondary transmission of the virus. The medical drones are being piloted by former RAF and Royal Navy fighter pilots from the York-based unmanned aircraft training company Flyby Technology.