Here are the key coronavirus updates from the last 24-hours.

  • A further 32 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital in England, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths reported in hospitals to 30,471.
  • County Durham has seen a increase of 516 cases across 24-hours, the highest jump in the region.
  • Boris Johnson held a telephone conference with Cabinet members on Sunday as the Prime Minister prepares to bring in a new three-tier coronavirus restrictions regime, which is predicted result in the closure hospitality venues across the region under the tougher restrictions.
  • Under the three-tier system, different parts of the country would be placed in different categories, with areas in the highest level expected to face tough restrictions such as hospitality venues closing.
  • Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen is calling for more support for businesses crippled by coronavirus lockdown rules after he was told it is highly likely the whole of the Tees Valley will be placed into the second tier of restrictions, similar to those rules already in force in Middlesbrough and Hartlepool, when the new system comes into force. Northern leaders have expressed anger at the economic impact of further Covid restrictions in their areas as talks with the Government appeared tense.
  • Professor Peter Horby, a leading expert from the University of Oxford and chairman of the Government advisory group for new and emerging respiratory virus threats advisory group Nervtag, has warned that a second national lockdown is a possibility and said that stringent measures were needed now to to avoid it at all costs. Mr Horby told the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show on Sunday that the country was in a “precarious position” with rising coronavirus case numbers, hospital admissions and deaths, particularly in parts of northern England were already starting to come under pressure.
  • Newcastle University, which has recently come underfire for its rapid rise in cases, hit back at claims of a “lack of leadership and lack of responsibility”, after more than 1,000 of its students tested positive for Covid-19 in a week. The Newcastle branch of the University and Colleges Union (UCU) have accused management of failing to take health and safety responsibilities “sufficiently seriously” and said the outbreak was “entirely predictable and preventable”. A Newcastle University spokeswoman said: “The university has worked tirelessly over the past few months to ensure our campus is Covid-secure and ready for colleagues and students to return safely to campus. “Trade union representatives have been a key part of our Emergency Management Team which has met regularly over the past six months to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of our whole university community remains our number one priority. "We have a team of highly trained and experienced occupational health and safety and business continuity advisors who have developed and implemented a range of measures and guidelines to control the risk of transmission of Covid-19. “As a result, many teams are already back on campus, keeping the university open and conducting face-to-face teaching for courses such as medicine and dentistry. “Like many universities, we have seen a significant rise in the number of cases among our students. The overwhelming majority of these cases are from infections acquired within social and residential settings and we have no evidence to date that there is any transmission in ‘on campus’ work environments."
  • It was revealed from the National Police Chiefs' Council that 1,900 fines have been handed out in North-East and North Yorkshire for flouting Covid lockdown rules.