Millions more people across different parts of the UK entered tougher lockdown restrictions from December 26, the day after Christmas marked annually as Boxing Day, as part of plans announced earlier this week to contain the rapid spread of a highly transmissible variant of coronavirus.

Approximate six million people in east and south-east England have joined many others into Tier 4, England's highest Covid level which includes a ''stay at home'' order. Lockdowns have also started in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and measures have been re-imposed in Wales after being eased for Christmas Day, when the UK crossed another grim milestone of 70,000 coronavirus deaths.

Under the toughest Tier 4 restrictions, all non-essential shops, bars and restaurants are shut and people are not permitted to meet other households, barring in a support bubble or in an outdoor public space with one other person. Massive parts of England were already in this tier pre-Christmas, including London, after the new mutation was found to be spreading fastest in those regions. With the devolved administrations setting their own strategies, Northern Ireland goes into a six-week lockdown from Saturday with non-essential shops shut and hospitality open only for takeaway services.

Meanwhile, a further 570 deaths in the UK were reported, taking the total number of people dying within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test to 70,195. This places the UK sixth after the US, Brazil, India, Mexico and Italy in terms of recorded coronavirus deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University, The number of people who tested positive for COVID-19 in England and Scotland increased by 32,725 on Friday.

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