Guardian

Number 10 has warned that the country is at a “critical juncture” in its fight to control the spread of coronavirus, reports The Guardian.

The Guardian says some leaders in northern England have described the Chancellor’s expansion of the Job Support Scheme as a “kick in the teeth” because it would not alleviate the financial hardship of a new lockdown. 

The Guardian reports that ministers will meet on Thursday to try and agree a plan for further restrictions on pubs to limit the UK’s increasing number of coronavirus cases. There’s more on that story here.

The Guardian goes with the impact of coronavirus on the new university year, saying three of the UK’s largest are stopping face-to-face teaching after a spike in cases on campus.

The Guardian says that contact tracers are scrambling to reach up to 50,000 people who should have been in isolation after a spreadsheet blunder led to coronavirus cases not being recorded.

A new three-tier lockdown system is being planned for England, which could see areas  with the highest case numbers banning social contact outside your own household and closing pubs, restaurants and bars, according to The Guardian.

The Guardian says coronavirus cases have doubled in the majority of English towns and cities subject to long-term local lockdowns. 

The Guardian also leads on the asylum seekers story and says Downing Street asked officials to look at sending people to Moldova, Morocco or Papua New Guinea for processing.

The government is too reliant on management consultants, reports The Guardian, based on a leaked ministerial letter.