Chesterfield landlady gives reaction to latest coronavirus restrictions announced by Boris Johnson

In the House of Commons on Tuesday, the Prime Minister said the country had ‘reached a perilous turning point’ in the Covid-19 crisis and went on to lay out a number of ‘carefully judged’ new restrictions – which may have to be in place for six months.

MORE: Here’s what the PM announced in his latest speech - including pub curfews, working from home and wedding restrictions

The measures include a mandatory 10pm closing time for pubs, restaurants and cafes from Thursday.

They will also be restricted to table service only, and face masks will be compulsory for bar staff and seated customers.

Emma Clarke, landlady of the Chesterfield Arms on Newbold Road, said: “Closing at 10pm could prove to be a bit of an issue, especially at weekends when we’d usually be open until midnight.

“We’ve been doing table service since we reopened in July and people seem to enjoy that – it’s more like a European way of drinking.

“The wearing of face coverings will be interesting but it is what it is.”

She added: “Things have been going well since we reopened.

“I really want to get across the message that people need to support their local pubs and businesses at this difficult time.”

On Monday, the Government’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance warned there could be 50,000 new Covid-19 cases a day by mid-October without further action – which, he said, could lead to more than 200 deaths per day by mid-November.

The UK’s coronavirus alert level was subsequently increased to four, meaning transmission is ‘high or rising exponentially’.

In his Commons speech, Mr Johnson said that the number of people testing positive for coronavirus per day had ‘almost quadrupled’ in the last month – to 3,929 people per day.

He said this was not ‘merely a function of more testing’ because a rising proportion of tests were yielding positive results.

Mr Johnson warned that, without action, a major rise in daily infections per day would lead to an increase in daily deaths ‘as night follows day’.

“This is the moment when we must act,” Mr Johnson said.

Mr Johnson is to address the nation in a broadcast at 8pm on Tuesday.

MORE: Chesterfield Royal Hospital comments amid growing concerns about second coronavirus wave nationally

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