BREAKING NEWS UK: Five-step plan for local lockdowns announced by PM

The government has announced its five-step emergency plan for imposing local lockdowns should there be any coronavirus spikes in the UK.

Boris Johnson said the government is now moving to a local focus rather than locking down the entire country, fears of a second wave are still real and the PM insisted that the UK is ready and prepared for it.

The PM said that the five-step plan will include: monitoring, engagement, testing, targeted restrictions, and local lockdown “as a last resort”.

Public Health England (PHE) will work with the joint biosecurity sector by looking at data of the spread of coronavirus and people’s behaviour across the country. They will look for emerging trends, rising cases, and other indicators while taking into account local factors.

Leicester lockdown updates

Police say they are bracing themselves for a busy weekend as pubs stay closed in Leicester but reopen across the country. More officers would be on duty than during a typical New Year’s Eve, Leicestershire Police said.

Hospital bosses in the city also said they were preparing for “typical behaviours of New Year’s Eve”. Leicester became subject to the UK’s first local lockdown on Monday following a spike in Covid-19 cases.

Police said officers would be policing the stricter lockdown measures as well as overseeing the relaxation of rules outside of the restricted zone.