THE whole country could be plunged into tighter Covid restrictions despite widespread Tier 4 rules, including in the North-East, as Matt Hancock refuses to rule out a national lockdown. 

The Health Secretary hinted at the potential for a new national lockdown, saying the Government is prepared to act “rapidly” where necessary.

The Government's “Covid-O” committee is due to meet today, January 4, where it will decide on changes to the coronavirus response, according to the Daily Mail.

It comes after mounting pressure from the opposition and unions, with Labour yesterday calling for national action "within the next 24-hours".

44 million people are currently under Tier 4 restrictions, including in County Durham, Darlington, Stockton, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool, Gateshead, Sunderland, Newcastle and Northumberland.

A full lockdown could see a return of tougher measures including shielding for vulnerable people, which is already the case in Tier 4 areas. 

Mr Hancock told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “We are prepared to take the sort of action (lockdown) if that is what’s necessary.”

He added: “It’s about not only the measures we put in place but how everybody responds to them.

“We’re prepared to take the action that’s necessary, and sometimes very rapidly.

“When we found out that this new variant spreads so much faster, we moved within just over 24 hours to bring in the Tier 4.”

Asked whether he is prepared to introduce a new national lockdown, Mr Hancock replied: “We look at the data all the time, and we will take the action that is needed based on public health advice.”

Mr Hancock also hailed the start of the rollout of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine as an 82-year-old former maintenance manager became the first person to receive the jab outside of clinical trials.

But with the latest data showing a 33 per cent rise in the number of confirmed coronavirus patients in hospital in England between Christmas Day and January 2, he warned there would be “some very difficult weeks” to come.

Asked about the prospect of another national lockdown, he acknowledged that the current restrictions are insufficient to control the spread of the disease.

He said the NHS has the capacity to deliver two million doses a week of the vaccine once it receives supplies from the manufacturers.

But the Prime Minister also hinted at a national lockdown, despite previous indications of tougher regional rules.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said hints are "not good enough" and called for a national lockdown "within the next 24-hours".

Writing on Twitter, he said: "The virus is clearly out of control.

"It’s not good enough for the Prime Minister to hint at further restrictions at unspecified times and then do nothing.

"He must put national restrictions in place within the next 24 hours. No more dither, no more delay."

The Daily Mail quoted a Government source as saying ministers were looking at putting even more areas of England into the toughest Tier 4, which already covers 78 per cent of the population – after changes which came into effect on Thursday.

In response to the comments, a Number 10 source said: “The Prime Minister has been consistently clear that we are driven by the need to protect the NHS and save lives – unlike Labour who have spent the last ten months playing party politics.

“We have moved more areas into Tier 4 to bear down on the new variant and escalated other areas into Tier 3. This targeted approach is the right one, and is kept under review based on the latest data.”

Mr Johnson said coronavirus restrictions in England were “probably about to get tougher” due to rising infection rates.

It comes as the row over when schools should re-open after the Christmas holidays continues. Some pupils have returned to school this morning but many schools have stayed closed.

As of Sunday, January 3, there were 1,999 further positive coronavirus cases recorded in the North-East and North Yorkshire on Sunday.

According to the latest Government figures published on Sunday afternoon, there have now been a total of 154,964 confirmed Covid-19 cases in our part of the UK since the start of the pandemic.

Nationally, the Government said a further 454 people have died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Sunday, bringing the UK total to 75,024.