Here are the latest updates on the coronavirus pandemic:

BORIS Johnson has cancelled Christmas plans for millions of people across the country after scientists said a new coronavirus variant is spreading more rapidly.

The Prime Minister announced that from Sunday areas in the South East currently in Tier 3 will be moved into a new Tier 4, effectively returning to the lockdown rules of November.

The rest of England, including the North-East, will also see the Christmas “bubble” policy – allowing up to three household to meet up over the holiday period – severely curtailed, applying on Christmas Day only.

People in all tiers were advised to “stay local” by the Prime Minister.

Scientists on the Government’s New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NervTag) concluded that the mutant strain identified by Public Health England – known as VUI2020/01 – was spreading more quickly.

The Prime Minister was advised of the group’s conclusions at a meeting with ministers on Friday evening, and the new regulations were signed off by the Cabinet in a conference call on Saturday lunchtime.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the new restrictions were necessary because of the spread of a variant coronavirus which was transmitting faster than the original.

Alert Level 4 restrictions will be brought forward to apply across Wales from midnight, First Minister Mark Drakeford has announced.

Mr Drakeford said the pattern of transmission in London and the South-East of England, linked to the new variant of coronavirus, is “remarkably consistent with the rapid acceleration of transmission in Wales” in recent weeks.

In a statement, Mr Drakeford said the latest evidence suggested that the new strain is present “throughout Wales” and said this required an “immediate response”.

The Welsh Government’s Cabinet met on Saturday to discuss the “worrying new development in the pandemic”, as well as advice from senior medical and scientific advisers, including the impact on NHS Wales.

Under the new “stay at home” order – covering around a third of the population of England – people in Tier 4 will be told they should not stay away from home overnight and people from outside will be advised not to visit Tier 4 areas.

In tier 4: • Residents must stay at home, apart from limited exemptions • Non-essential retail, indoor gyms and leisure facilities and personal care services must close • People must work from home if they can, unless this is not possible e.g. manufacturing and construction sectors • People should not enter or leave tier4 areas • Tier 4 residents must not stay overnight away from home • You can only meet one person from another household in an outdoor public space • Communal worship can continue to take place The measures take effect from tomorrow morning.

All tiers will continue to be regularly reviewed, with the next formal review on December 30.

England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty said people considering leaving Tier 4 areas now should unpack their bag and stay at home.

“My short answer would be ‘please unpack it at this stage’,” he said.

Prof Whitty told a Downing Street news conference: “If they were to go with this new variant, unwittingly, to an area that has a low prevalence and starts this being seeded even more outside the high prevalence areas that would be a significant risk to the area they went to.”

Shadow minister for mental health Dr Rosena Alin-Khan said the new strain is not solely to blame, and Mr Johnson must be held to account over Dominic Cummings' rule breaking, the second lockdown coming too late, terribly confused rules, the “Back to normal by Xmas” messaging and the failure of test and trace.

She accused the Prime Minister of 'serial mismanagement and national negligence'.

She said: "Christmas plans are ruined for families up and down the country because of Government neglect, incompetence and an inability to get on top of this virus.

“Dither and delay has cost lives with more to come.

"The mental health implications of this will be tragic."

STOCKS of coronavirus vaccine could run out at the end of January unless new ones such as the Oxford jab are approved, a former minister has warned.

Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt told the BBC’s Today programme on Saturday that if the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was approved soon it would make a “massive difference” because current stocks of the Pfizer jab will run out at the end of January.

His comments come amid reports the Oxford vaccine could be approved before the new year, with the Daily Telegraph reporting senior Whitehall sources believe the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) will authorise it on December 28 or 29.

THE Government said a further 534 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Saturday, bringing the UK total to 67,075.

Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies for deaths where Covid-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate, together with additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days, show there have now been 83,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK.

The Government said that, as of 9am on Saturday, there had been a further 27,052 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK.

It brings the total number of cases in the UK to 2,004,219.

In the North-East and North Yorkshire the breakdown is as follows:

• County Durham: 21,337 was 21,273

• Darlington: 3,884 was 3,861

• Gateshead: 8,317 was 8,295

• Hartlepool: 4,508 was 4,485

• Middlesbrough: 6,349 was 6,303

• Newcastle: 16,794 was 16,755

• Northumberland: 9,877 was 9,790

• North Tyneside: 7,512 was 7,480

• North Yorkshire: 15,085 was 14,995

• Redcar and Cleveland: 5,036 was 5,015

• South Tyneside: 6,826 was 6,775

• Stockton: 8,480 was 8,443

• Sunderland: 12,168 was 12,124

• York: 6,070 was 6,020