UK coronavirus live: 'Not to act would be unforgivable' – PM suggests more areas should go into strictest tier 3

In the Commons, asked what needs to happen for these local restrictions to be lifted, Boris Johnson says the R number would have to fall below one.

In the Commons Andrea Leadsom, a Conservative, asks Boris Johnson to publish details of why the specific measures are needed in each case. Johnson says the government will do this.

Andy Street, the Conservative mayor for the West Midlands (and arguably the most prominent Tory in local government) has said he is “very disappointed” to see his region go into tier 2, the high risk alert level.

He says that regional leaders were led to believe that this would not happen, that it will mean households now being banned from mixing in places like pubs, that the evidence does not support this and that the hospitality industry will suffer as a result.

He also says that the West Midlands, with an average infection rate of 123 people per 100,000, is being treated the same as Manchester, with 550 infections were 100,000 people.

He says the decision should be reviewed “as soon as possible”.

In the Commons Labour’s Yvette Cooper called on Boris Johnson to “come back from the moon and get back to what’s happening on planet Earth” as she raised concerns over testing. She said:

Just a month ago, the PM described his moonshot plan where there were going to be millions of tests done and returned every day and he said if everything comes together, it may be possible even for sectors like theatres to have life much closer to normal before Christmas.

Families now are feeling like a normal Christmas is going to be further away [than] ever and local health officials in our area have said people are waiting six days, not a day, to get their test results. If we come back from the moon and get back to what’s happening on planet Earth, when will he have enough testing capacity in place so my constituents can get their results in 24 hours?

Johnson said that testing capacity had gone up 28% in the last month, and that by the end of the month the system would be able to process 500,000 tests a day.

Nine thousand students in England currently have Covid and 68 universities are dealing with outbreaks, the universities minister has said.

Michelle Donelan said the figure of 9,000 came from data supplied by universities and was a cumulative figure over seven days, against a total student population of around 2 million.

From next week, she said, the Department for Education would be working with the Office for Students on a new, more transparent data regime to provide figures.

Speaking during education questions in the Commons, Donelan also warned higher education institutions against trying to make a profit by charging self-isolating students £18 a day for food parcels. Donelan said she had already spoken to “many” universities on this issue, and warned she would be writing to follow up.

Students who are trapped in their halls of residence have complained about the cost and quality of the food provided by their universities, with some charged hundreds of pounds for meal packages including baked beans and instant noodles.

More than 2,500 students at Lancaster University have signed a petition urging the university to stop “profiting from self-isolating students” who are paying £17.95 a day for meals the students estimate cost £4.

Donelan told MPs:

No university should seek to profit from students self-isolating, and reported charges of £18 a day for food parcels are quite simply outrageous.

Students self-isolating in catered halls should receive free food whilst other students should receive food which is either free – like many including Sheffield Hallam and Edge Hill are doing – or at a price which can be afforded within a student’s budget.

I have spoken to many universities on this and I am also writing to make the point.

Figures posted on the University of Nottingham’s website showed 1,510 of its students had been diagnosed with active cases of Covid-19 during the week ending last Friday, PA Media reports. The figures included 667 students in private accommodation, 523 others living in halls of residence and 310 in purpose-built student accommodation.

The figures on the UK government’s dashboard also show that there are now 3,665 patients in hospital in England with coronavirus.

That is 1,072 more than this time last week (2,593) – a 40% increase.

The UK government has updated its coronavirus dashboard. Here are the key headline figures.

• The UK has recorded 13,972 new cases. That is higher than yesterday (12,872) and higher than the figure for this time last week (12,594), but lower than some days last week.

• The UK has recorded 50 further deaths. That is 15 fewer than yesterday.

The Liverpool Chamber of Commerce chief executive, Paul Cherpeau, said businesses across the city were “bewildered, frustrated and angry” by the new restrictions. He said:

A week of speculation and rumour has badly damaged confidence. Businesses need to understand the clear evidence for the restrictions that are now being imposed – as many have worked so hard to become Covid safe.

Whilst our visitor economy will bear the brunt of these new restrictions, the percolating effect on supply chains is hugely concerning, in addition to the psychological impact upon our citizens, business owners and investors.

In response to a question from the Tory MP Steve Baker, Johnson said that the development of a vaccine “cannot be taken for granted”. He says after 20 years there is still no vaccine for Sars.

UPDATE: Here is Johnson’s quote.

Alas, I can’t give him a date by which I can promise confidently that we will have a vaccine. There are some very hopeful signs not least from the Oxford AstraZeneca trials that are being conducted.

But, as he knows, Sars took place 18 years ago, we still don’t have a vaccine for Sars. I don’t wish to depress him, but we must be realistic about this.

There is a good chance of a vaccine, but it cannot be taken for granted.