ALL pubs, bars, restaurants and other hospitality venues in England must have a 22:00 closing time from Thursday, to help curb the spread of coronavirus reports BBC.

The sector will also be restricted by law to table service only. 

The measures will be set out by the prime minister in the Commons before he addresses the nation in a live broadcast at 20:00 BST on Tuesday.

It comes as the UK’s Covid-19 alert level moved to 4, meaning transmission is “high or rising exponentially”.

Boris Johnson is also expected to stress the need for people to follow social distancing guidelines, wear face coverings and wash their hands regularly. 

And, according to newspaper reports, he will urge people to work from home where it does not negatively impact businesses.

• How does the Covid-19 alert level system work?
• How many cases are there in your area?

The government’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance has warned there could be 50,000 new coronavirus cases a day by mid-October without further action – which, he said, could lead to more than 200 deaths per day by mid-November. 

On Monday, a further 4,368 daily cases and 11 deaths were reported in the UK.