Tough new rules to lock down parts of towns to rapidly isolate new coronavirus sufferers could be brought in TOMORROW

Boris Johnson plans to announce the government’s crucial new ‘track and trace’ programme to stamp out new coronavirus contagion trails tomorrow.

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He will say it will go live either on Thursday or Friday, when an army of 25,000 contact tracers will begin work hunting down new cases.

Parts of towns could face lockdown if there are regional flare-ups and schools, businesses or workplaces may be closed.

This morning Housing Minister Robert Jenrick explained: "If the system works as we hope, it will be on quite a micro level as you say.

"It will be trying to judge if there flare ups in particular places.

"Whether that's parts of towns, schools, hospitals, workplaces."

It comes as:

• Famiilies and friends may soon be having barbecues together under plans allowing different households to meet for the first time in months
• Firms are set to be banned from making new furlough claims in future - as it was revealed 8.4million jobs are on the scheme
• Officials are said to be looking at doing deals with other countries giving hope for UK holidays

The PM pledged to introduce the new contact tracing system - that has proved highly successful in South Korea and Germany - by June 1.

But it is being rushed forward in a bid to give parents and teachers comfort that it is safe for some primary school classes to return on Monday.

Getting track and trace up and running is a key condition set down by unions for schools to reopen, as well as the government’s scientific advisers.

Mr Johnson could use his grilling in front of the Commons' powerful Liaison Committee this afternoon to make the announcement.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock on Tuesday confirmed The Sun’s revelation last week that the contact tracers will have sweeping powers to order whole schools, office blocks or streets into isolation.

He told the daily No10 briefing last night: “We will have local lockdowns in future where there are flare-ups.

“We have a system we are putting in place with a combination of Public Health England and the new Joint Biosecurity Centre.”

Mr Hancock added: “It’s incredibly important people play their part.

“People aren’t going to be doing this for me, it will be for their loved ones.”

He is expected to reveal more details at tonight's No10 briefing.

The government’s testing boss John Newton confirmed the new lockdowns would be mandatory.

Public Health England boss Professor Newton added: “Test and trace is a very important contribution.

“It will not be a request, it will be an instruction.”

A new mobile phone app that alerts users when they have been in close contact with new sufferers won’t be introduced until later next month.

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The track and trace system is just one of the ways the Government plans to pull the country out of lockdown.

The Government has been widely criticised for abandoning track and trace on March 12 - when they moved tactic from containing coronavirus to delaying the peak.

They argue it has worked in other countries like Singapore and South Korea, helping to keep infection and death rates down.

There are two key strains to the operation - human tracers, and the NHS app.

So far, 25,000 contact tracers have been hired to manually track down people who have been near others who have contracted Covid-19.

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