It has been revealed by a senior Whitehall source that Prime Minister Boris Johnson is planning tougher new restrictions within weeks, if the rule of six fails.
It is understood that government officials are looking at ways to prevent the virus from getting out of control, as Johnson has ruled out a second lockdown.
However, if coronavirus does spiral out of control it is understood that the Prime Minister will introduce a lockdown “by the back door.”
A senior Whitehall source told the Mirror, “Boris Johnson is so paranoid about announcing a second national lockdown that he’ll just bring in one by the back door.”
Fresh new tougher measures will be introduced to protect the most vulnerable and pubs could be ordered to close early if people continue to flout the rules.
However, a Downing Street spokesman refused to rule out curfews being introduced in London or elsewhere across England.
Professor Kevin Fenton, London director of Public Health England has appealed to Londoners to “pull together” otherwise more restrictions could be imposed across the capital.
The Downing Street spokesman was asked about Professor Fenton’s warning of curfews.
He said, “We’ve continued to keep all regions and areas under constant review which is why we’ve introduced local lockdowns in certain areas.”
He added, “We will keep the infection rates across the country under review, and we will take action where we think it’s needed.”
The government are keeping everything under “constant review,” but did not say when the new restrictions will be introduced.
The spokesman said, “As all the decisions we’ve made on the virus we will be following the best scientific advice and we’ll keep the numbers and the infection rates under constant review.”
A senior government member told ITV that are considering “pretty much every social distancing measure should be contemplated other than school closures.”
Another source said the government may now have to consider “more nationwide measures.”
The source told The Telegraph newspaper, “If it doesn’t get contained it may be that some things that have been open, you need to think about whether measures need to be taken to reverse things.
“The strategy is to manage this through local outbreak management, but if it moves in the direction of Spain, then clearly you can see what’s happening there, and in France, people are making more nationwide measures.”
