Liverpool’s mayor Joe Anderson reveals his brother has died from coronavirus 

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Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson today announced his eldest brother Bill has sadly died a day after being admitted to intensive care with coronavirus.

He tweeted: ‘Despite the efforts of all the staff at Liverpool Hospital ICU my brother sadly died at 10.45 last night.

‘We want to thank the dedicated staff risking their lives for us. Thank you all for your messages of love and support. Let’s stick together and support each other and win this battle.’   

Politicians, celebrities and members of the public rallied round the 62-year-old mayor, who only five weeks ago lost another brother, Henry, to cancer.  

Liverpool has one of the most severe coronavirus rates in the country and is one of only two regions in the highest alert level under Boris Johnson’s targeted battle plan to suppress the virus. 

More than 28 million people are now living under tighter measures across the county, with people in London among those plunged into the Tier 2 alert bracket last night which bans different households from meeting indoors. 

The Prime Minister has hitherto resisted demands from Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and regional mayors to impose a nationwide lockdown. 

But today one of his most senior backbenchers and a top government scientist joined calls for a national circuit-breaker lockdown amid bleak warnings of 690 daily coronavirus deaths within a fortnight.

Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt said: ‘I’ve always thought that it’s better to do things quickly and decisively than to wait until the virus has grown so I have a lot of sympathy with that.’ 

He was responding to remarks made by Government scientific adviser Sir John Bell who said he sees ‘very little way of getting on top of this without some kind of a circuit-breaker because the numbers are actually pretty eye-watering’. 

In other developments:

• Police fought to enforce coronavirus laws in London last night as they faced defiance from both protesters and drinkers refusing to go home; 
• Mr Johnson said the UK is developing the capacity to manufacture millions of fast turnaround tests for coronavirus which could deliver results in just 15 minutes;
• The National Education Union rowed in behind Sir Keir Starmer’s call for a national circuit-breaker to get infections down; 
• The Welsh Government were to meet to discuss a circuit-breaker lockdown and will announce any decisions on Monday;
• Some 15,650 coronavirus cases were recorded in the UK on Friday, alongside 136 deaths;  
• A senior scientist predicted Britain could be carrying out a million coronavirus tests a day by Christmas;
• The Prime Minister’s attention briefly switched from the pandemic to warn a No Deal Brexit was likely as both London and Brussels ramped up their tough talk.

Bill Anderson was a former chairman of the Merseyside Merchant Navy Association, which today paid tribute to the ‘shipmate trade unionist, fighter.’ 

Condolences for Joe Anderson poured in, including from MP David Lammy, Everton FC star Yannick Bolasie and Liverpool City Metro Mayor Steve Rotherham.

Mr Anderson has been a vocal critic of the Government in recent days and yesterday branded the tier system a ‘shambles’ after Lancashire’s Tier 3 appeared softer than Liverpool’s.

He demanded ‘immediate clarification on why Lancashire gyms are allowed to stay open’ while Liverpool’s were forced to close.  

Draconian Tier 3 regulations have also seen pubs and bars in the city forced to shut unless they can serve food. 

Police descended on Goodison Park football stadium today to prevent any Everton and Liverpool fans breaching the coronavirus rules on the day of the Merseyside Derby, which ended in a 2-2 draw. 

Mr Anderson’s announcement of Bill’s passing came as as scientists from the Medical Research Council biostatistics unit at Cambridge University predicted hundreds more deaths in the next few weeks.

They presented Sage with an estimate that 47,000 people are becoming infected in England every day.

While stressing that the ‘substantial proportion’ of cases are asymptomatic, their modelling suggests that hundreds will be dying daily by the end of the month. 

The report published this week says: ‘We predict that the number of deaths each day is likely to be between 240 and 690 on October 26.’   

Yesterday the Government announced 15,650 new lab-confirmed coronavirus cases, although the true figure is estimated to be much higher. 

The Cambridge scientists point to Covid-19 hotspots such as the North West and North East, where infections are reckoned to be at 17,600 and 10,000 respectively, followed by London and the Midlands at 5,450 and 5,720. 

Sir John, regius professor of medicine at Oxford who advises the Government, resigned himself to backing a circuit-breaker if the country is to get a grip on the surge in cases. 

He told BBC Radio 4: ‘I can see very little way of getting on top of this without some kind of a circuit-breaker because the numbers are actually pretty eye-watering in some bits of the country and I think it’s going to be very hard to get on top of this just biting around the edges.

‘I think there will be every effort to keep schools open. If in the end we have to take kids out for two weeks, calm it all down, and then start ideally embedded in a much more rigorous testing regime then that’s maybe what we may have to do.’ 

Labour leader Sir Keir and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan have been leading calls for a nationwide lockdown and were yesterday supported by Britain’s biggest teacher union, the NEU.

But while the PM yesterday refused to rule out imposing a national lockdown if cases spiral out of control, he underscored his commitment to local action. 

At a Downing Street press briefing, he said: ‘Some have argued that we should introduce a national lockdown instead of targeted local action and I disagree. Closing businesses in Cornwall, where transmission is low, will not cut transmission in Manchester.

‘So while I cannot rule anything out, if at all possible I want to avoid another national lockdown, with the damaging health, economic and social effects it would have. Alongside our local strategy we have been working throughout to find other ways to suppress this virus.’ 

People in London, Essex, York, Elmbridge, Barrow-in-Furness, North East Derbyshire, Erewash and Chesterfield today woke up to new Tier 2 restrictions. 

Hours before the restrictions came into force at midnight, police fought to enforce coronavirus laws in London as they faced defiance from both protesters and drinkers refusing to go home.

After being turfed out of pubs and bars at 10pm, crowds spilled on to the streets of Soho where anti-lockdown demonstrators had gathered, including Piers Corbyn who said: ‘We’re here to drink against curfew.’ 

Lancashire also joined Liverpool in the most severe Tier 3, where all pubs are forced to close unless they can serve food. 

Labour’s council leaders in Lancashire said they had been forced to accept the measures, with South Ribble’s Paul Foster saying they were ‘blackmailed’ and Blackpool’s Lynn Williams adding they had ‘no option’ to agree, as they secured an extra £30million of funding. 

Under Tier 3 rules pubs will close unless they serve food and alcohol as part of a sit-down meal, while stricter restrictions on socialising will also come into force.

People will not be able to mix with others in any indoor setting or private garden, as well as in most outdoor hospitality venues.

Casinos, bingo halls, bookmakers, betting shops, soft play areas and adult gaming centres will be forced to shut, while car boot sales will also be banned.

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham is continuing to resist moves from Government to elevate his region into the very high alert level and is also agitating for a circuit-breaker.  

The PM yesterday warned Mr Burnham he will impose Tier 3 restrictions on the Manchester region unilaterally, with sources suggesting as early as Monday.  

Mr Burnham and council leaders across Greater Manchester responded by insisting they have done ‘everything within our power to protect the health of our residents’, and said people and firms need greater financial support before accepting the lockdown.

They also suggested in a joint statement that Downing Street had delayed discussions, adding: ‘We can assure the Prime Minister that we are ready to meet at any time to try to agree a way forward.’ 

Mr Hunt this morning urged both sides to stop the public war of words and thrash out an agreement in private.

He told BBC Radio 4: ‘I think more important right now is we stop this public war of words between local leaders and national leaders because in a pandemic the most important thing is a consistent message because you really have to have compliance with the very, very important public health messages about social distancing. 

Mr Burnham said no meetings had taken place since Thursday morning and there was confusion over whether talks would resume with No 10 over the weekend.

‘We can assure the Prime Minister that we are ready to meet at any time to try to agree a way forward,’ Mr Burnham and council leaders across the region said in a statement.

Shadow education secretary Kate Green called for an end to the ‘blame game’ and for discussions to resume to get the region an adequate support package.

The Labour MP for Stretford and Urmston told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘That has not been offered by the Government. There hasn’t even been discussions over the past 24 hours between the Government and Greater Manchester’s leaders.

‘We have to have our local leaders around the table with the Prime Minister or with his representatives to thrash out a deal today.’

Downing Street indicated a discussion had been arranged for Sunday morning after a message was left with Mr Burnham on Saturday, but the mayor’s camp flatly denied any call having been scheduled.