London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Covid: No 10 'keeping a close eye' on rising cases

Covid: No 10 'keeping a close eye' on rising cases

Downing Street says it is "keeping a very close eye" on rising Covid cases - but the cabinet has not yet discussed rolling out its Plan B to control coronavirus in England this winter.

Daily cases have been above 40,000 for seven days in a row, with 43,738 new Covid cases reported on Tuesday.

Another 223 deaths have been recorded, the highest since March, although daily figures are often bigger on Tuesdays.

PM Boris Johnson has told the cabinet the UK faces "a difficult winter".

Under the government's winter plan, if the measures currently in place are not enough to prevent "unsustainable pressure" on the NHS, then steps like making face coverings mandatory in some settings and introducing vaccine passports could be considered as part of Plan B.

The prime minister told ministers the government had "a plan in place to steer the country through this period" and that people should "continue to follow the guidance and get their jabs when called upon".

Downing Street said Mr Johnson had stressed that the government's autumn and winter plan "continues to keep the virus under control".

No 10 said the government was "not complacent" about rising cases but that, due to the vaccination programme, "the levels we are seeing in both patients admitted to hospital and deaths are far lower than we saw in previous peaks".

The seven-day average of new Covid cases in the UK has risen from around 34,000 a day at the beginning of October to 44,145 cases per day.

And the number of people in hospital across the UK who have Covid has risen by 10% in a week, from 7,039 on 11 October to 7,749 on Monday.

The number of deaths within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test reported on Tuesday was the highest since 9 March, although due to reporting lags over the weekend daily figures are often higher on a Tuesday.


"Clearly we're keeping a very close eye on rising case rates," the prime minister's spokesman said.

He said there were "no plans" to use the Plan B contingency measures but stressed that the most important message for the public was "the vital importance of the booster programme and indeed for those children who are eligible to come forward and get our jab".

Children aged 12 to 15 in England will be able to book their jabs at vaccination centres, as well as through school, after concerns about rollout delays.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid told MPs younger teenagers would be able to book their jabs outside of school to "make the most of half-term".

Earlier Prof Neil Ferguson, who is a member of the government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said it was "critical" to accelerate the booster jab programme, as well as for younger teenagers to receive a vaccine.

He said there was no reason to "panic right now" but "people need to be aware that we have currently higher levels of infection in the community than we've almost ever had during the pandemic".

On Tuesday Northern Ireland announced its own autumn and winter plan, which will see face coverings remain a legal requirement in crowded indoor spaces.

The Welsh government has previously set out its plans for winter, with First Minister Mark Drakeford saying Christmas this year was likely to be more normal.

Scotland has set out a winter vaccination strategy and already has measures in place such as the requirement of proof of vaccination status at nightclubs and face masks in schools.

Meanwhile, officials say they are monitoring a new descendant of the Delta variant of Covid, which is causing a growing number of infections.

Downing Street said that there was "no evidence to suggest it is more easily spread".

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
×