PRIME MINISTER Boris Johnson on Tuesday (8) announced a tightening of rules on social gatherings amid concern at rising infection rates, particularly among young people.
The law in England will change from next week to reduce the number of people who can gather socially from 30 to six, with some exemptions.
Johnson's government also unveiled a new public information campaign entitled "Hands. Face. Space", to emphasise the importance of hand washing, face coverings and social distancing.
"We need to act now to stop the virus spreading," the prime minister said, ahead of a press conference on Wednesday where he will explain the changes.
There were 2,460 new infections reported on Tuesday, 2,948 on Monday and 2,988 on Sunday -- a sharp rise from levels of around 1,000 per day in August and attributed to high transmission among young people.
More than 41,500 people confirmed to have coronavirus have died in Britain, the worst toll in Europe.
The death rate has now fallen to its lowest level since mid-March, but as in other parts of Europe, cases are increasing, with almost 3,000 daily infections reported in recent days.
Johnson's office said medical and scientific advisers had agreed that "urgent action is needed", while police had also asked for the rules to be simplified.
The government currently says people must not socialise outside in a group of more than six people from different households, but the law actually puts that limit at 30 in private spaces.
From Monday, this will be reduced to six, except for large families, weddings, funerals, organised team sports, workplaces and educational settings.
"We are simplifying and strengthening the rules on social contact -- making them easier to understand and for the police to enforce," Johnson said in remarks released by his office.
"It is absolutely critical that people now abide by these rules and remember the basics -- washing your hands, covering your face, keeping space from others, and getting a test if you have symptoms."
Restricted opening hours
Earlier Tuesday, the government imposed tougher restrictions on Bolton in northwest England after a "very significant rise" in coronavirus cases.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said contact tracing data had shown this was "partly due to socialising by people in their 20s and 30s".
After identifying a number of pubs as hotspots, he announced curbs on hospitality venues, including reduced opening hours, and a ban on locals socialising with people outside their household.
The latest targeted local restrictions come as the government tries to get the economy moving again after months of lockdown imposed in late March.
It has encouraged people to go back to work and use a government-subsidised restaurant scheme to boost revenues for eateries hit hard by the shutdown.
Critics say such measures have only exacerbated infection rates as young people in particular head out to pubs with scant regard for social distancing.
Hancock warned that although younger people were less likely to develop serious forms of Covid-19, they could easily pass it to those more vulnerable, particularly the elderly.
"Don’t kill your gran by catching coronavirus and then passing it on. And you can pass it on before you’ve had any symptoms at all," he said.
England's deputy chief medical officer, Professor Jonathan Van Tam, said the increase in the number of cases was of "great concern".
"People have relaxed too much," he noted. "Now is the time for us to re-engage, and to realise that this is a continuing threat to us."
He added that hospital admissions and deaths were "at a very low level" in the UK, and the rise in cases was most prominent among those aged between 17 and 21, but the country risks following the trajectory of some European Union (EU) countries.
"The fact that 17 to 21-year-olds are not becoming ill means they are lucky, but they also forget because the disease is not severe for them that they are potent spreaders," Prof Van Tam said.
Virus cases were "increasing exponentially", according to another member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), Professor John Edmunds, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
"We can see the epidemic is taking off again. So I don''t think we''ve hit that sweet spot where we''ve been able to control the epidemic and allow the economy to return to some sort of normality," he said.
