One Of Boris Johnson s Most Senior Backbenchers And A Top Government Scientist Today Joined Calls For A National Circuit-breaker Lockdown Amid Bleak Warnings Of 690 Daily Coronavirus Deaths Within A Fortnight

One of Boris Johnson's most senior backbenchers and a top government scientist today joined calls for a national circuit-breaker lockdown amid bleak warnings of 690 daily coronavirus deaths within a fortnight.
The Prime Minister has hitherto resisted demands from Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and regional mayors to impose a nationwide lockdown and is pressing ahead with a targeted battle plan of local restrictions. 
More than 28 million people are now living under tighter measures, with people in London among those plunged into the Tier 2 alert bracket last night which bans different households from meeting indoors.  
But former health secretary Jeremy Hunt this morning ratcheted up pressure on the PM to go further and indicated his support for a short circuit-breaker.
The Tory MP said: 'I've always thought that it's better to do things quickly and decisively than to wait until the virus has grown so I have a lot of sympathy with that.' 
He was responding to remarks made by Government scientific adviser Sir John Bell who said he sees 'very little way of getting on top of this without some kind of a circuit-breaker because the numbers are actually pretty eye-watering'. 
It came as scientists from the Medical Research Council biostatistics unit at Cambridge University presented Sage with an estimate that 47,000 people are becoming infected in England every day.
While stressing that the 'substantial proportion' of cases are asymptomatic, their modelling suggests that hundreds will be dying daily by the end of the month. 
The report published this week says: 'We predict that the number of deaths each day is likely to be between 240 and 690 on October 26.'  
In other developments:
Police fought to enforce coronavirus laws in London last night as they faced defiance from both protesters and drinkers refusing to go home; Mr Johnson said the UK is developing the capacity to manufacture millions of fast turnaround tests for coronavirus which could deliver results in just 15 minutes;The National Education Union rowed in behind Sir Keir Starmer's call for a national circuit-breaker to get infections down; The Welsh Government were to meet to discuss a circuit-breaker lockdown and will announce any decisions on Monday;Some 15,650 coronavirus cases were recorded in the UK on Friday, alongside 136 deaths;  A senior scientist predicted Britain could be carrying out a million coronavirus tests a day by Christmas;The Prime Minister's attention briefly switched from the pandemic to warn a No Deal Brexit was likely as both London and Brussels ramped up their tough talk.  Hours before the restrictions came into force at midnight, police fought to enforce coronavirus laws in London as they faced defiance from both protesters and drinkers refusing to go home 
Jeremy Hunt (left) and Sir John Bell (right) today joined calls for a short national circuit-breaker lockdown amid bleak warnings of 690 daily coronavirus deaths within a fortnight



Yesterday the Government announced 15,650 new lab-confirmed coronavirus cases, although the true figure is estimated to be much higher. 
The Cambridge scientists point to Covid-19 hotspots such as the North West and North East, where infections are reckoned to be at 17,600 and 10,000 respectively, followed by London and the Midlands at 5,450 and 5,720. 
Sir John, regius professor of medicine at Oxford who advises the Government, resigned himself to backing a circuit-breaker if the country is to get a grip on the surge in cases. 
He told BBC Radio 4: 'I can see very little way of getting on top of this without some kind of a circuit-breaker because the numbers are actually pretty eye-watering in some bits of the country and I think it's going to be very hard to get on top of this just biting around the edges.
'I think there will be every effort to keep schools open. If in the end we have to take kids out for two weeks, calm it all down, and then start ideally embedded in a much more rigorous testing regime then that's maybe what we may have to do.' 
Labour leader Sir Keir and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan have been leading calls for a nationwide lockdown and were yesterday supported by Britain's biggest teacher union, the NEU.
But while the PM yesterday refused to rule out imposing a national lockdown if cases spiral out of control, he underscored his commitment to local action. 
At a Downing Street press briefing, he said: 'Some have argued that we should introduce a national lockdown instead of targeted local action and I disagree.

Closing businesses in Cornwall, where transmission is low, will not cut transmission in Manchester.
'So while I cannot rule anything out, if at all possible I want to avoid another national lockdown, with the damaging health, economic and social effects it would have.
Alongside our local strategy we have been working throughout to find other ways to suppress this virus.' 
People in London, Essex, York, Elmbridge, Barrow-in-Furness, North East Derbyshire, Erewash and Chesterfield today woke up to new Tier 2 restrictions. 
Hours before the restrictions came into force at midnight, police fought to enforce coronavirus laws in London as they faced defiance from both protesters and drinkers refusing to go home.
After being turfed out of pubs and bars at 10pm, crowds spilled on to the streets of Soho where anti-lockdown demonstrators had gathered, including Piers Corbyn who said: 'We're here to drink against curfew.' 
As it reached 10pm protesters held up signs and gathered together to protest the curfew and increasing restrictions
Police officers marched through Soho as they tried to break up illegal gatherings of more than six people in central London
A man was handcuffed and bundled into the back of a police van in Soho by police officers after the night descended into chaos when revellers were asked to go home
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