Covid: No 10 'keeping a close eye' on rising Covid cases

Downing Street says it is "keeping a very close eye" on rising Covid cases - but the cabinet has not yet discussed rolling out its Plan B to control coronavirus in England this winter.

Daily cases have been above 40,000 for seven days in a row, with 43,738 new Covid cases reported on Tuesday.

Another 223 deaths have been reported, the highest since March, but Tuesday figures are often bigger than others.

PM Boris Johnson has told the cabinet the UK faces "a difficult winter".

Under the government's winter plan, if the measures currently in place are not enough to prevent "unsustainable pressure" on the NHS, then steps like wearing face coverings in some settings and introducing vaccine passports could be considered as part of Plan B.