The following areas will move from local COVID alert level medium to local COVID alert level high from Saturday 24 October:

• Coventry
• Slough
• Stoke-on-Trent

This means that for these areas, the following measures will be in place:

• people must not meet with anybody outside their household or support bubble in any indoor setting, whether at home or in a public place
• people must not meet in a group of more than 6 outside, including in a garden or other space
• people should aim to reduce the number of journeys they make where possible; if they need to travel, they should walk or cycle where possible, or plan ahead and avoid busy times and routes on public transport

These measures will be reviewed every 14 days to consider whether they are still appropriate.

The government brought in legislation in July to give local authorities powers to impose restrictions, close premises or cancel events. Following discussions and feedback from local authorities in England, stronger regulations will now be put in place so local authorities can act without undue delay, rapidly shutting premises on public health grounds to stop the spread of the virus. A consultation on these proposals is ongoing with local authorities.

The rate of COVID-19 infections is rising rapidly across the UK. The weekly case rate in England stood at 172 people per 100,000 from 10 October to 16 October, up from 100 people per 100,000 for the week 25 September to 1 October.

In Coventry, weekly case rates are at 182 people per 100,000 and this increases to 946 per 100,000 in those aged 17 to 21 and is 76 per 100,000 in the over 60s.

In Slough, weekly case rates are at 141 people per 100,000 and this increases to 342 per 100,000 in those aged 17 to 21 and is 116 per 100,000 in the over 60s.

In Stoke-on-Trent, weekly case rates are at 173 people per 100,000 and this increases to 297 per 100,000 in those aged 17 to 21 and is 131 per 100,000 in the over 60s.

In addition to today’s announcement, discussions are ongoing with the following areas about moving to local COVID alert level very high:

• Nottingham City and parts of Nottinghamshire (Nottingham City Council, Broxtowe Borough Council, Gedling Borough Council, Rushcliffe Borough Council)
• West Yorkshire (Bradford, Leeds, Kirklees, Calderdale, Wakefield)
• North East (Newcastle upon Tyne, South Tyneside, Sunderland, Gateshead, North Tyneside, Northumberland, Country Durham)
• Tees Valley (Darlington, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool, Stockton on Tees, Redcar and Cleveland)