MIND THE GAP
Boris Johnson under pressure to increase social distancing to three metres in bid to stop mutant Covid spread
BORIS Johnson is facing renewed pressure to increase the social distancing rules to three metres to curb the spread of coronavirus.
Top experts on the Government's the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) have suggested changing the rules from "one metre plus" to "two metre plus".
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It means the limit would effectively be changed to three metres - or two metres with masks.
A Downing Street spokesman told : "There are no current plans to change social distancing rules. However, everything is kept under review."
Bumping up the social distancing rule to three metres could stop the spread of the new variant of the virus, which is between 50 to 70 per cent more contagious.
But critics have said changing the rules would be a logistical nightmare with little impact.
Two-metre signs have been painting and printed across the nation and changing them would leave businesses and local authorities with a hefty bill.
It comes as Mr Johnson on Monday has warned he might have to tighten the lockdown rules yet again.
The PM gave a stark warning that further action may be needed - just a week after England's new national lockdown began.
The PM said as he visited a vaccination centre in the South West today: "We are going to keep the rules under constant review. Where we have to tighten them, we will.
“But we have rules in place which, if properly followed, we believe can make a huge, huge difference."
He urged everyone to stay at home as much as possible to protect the NHS and save lives - and he urged everyone to consider their actions as it was such a "perilous time" for the nation.
It comes as Covid-19 cases today jumped by 46,169 as deaths rose by 529 in the last 24 hours.
There have now been 3,118,518 Brits infected with the disease since the pandemic began, and the total death toll has reached a staggering 81,960.
Today's rise in cases is lower than it was last Monday, when 58,784 cases were recorded along with 407 deaths.
This is the equivalent to a 5.5 per cent increase in positive cases in the last seven days.
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The rise in infections today is also lower than yesterday, when 54,940 people tested positive for the virus.
And the death toll is similarly lower today, in comparison to yesterday's 563 figure.
Figures on a Monday tend to be lower than the rest of the week due to a lag in reporting over the weekend.
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