Key points

• PM to hold COVID briefing at 4pm
• UK’s R number edges up slightly to between 1.3 and 1.5 – SAGE warns transmission is ‘not slowing’
• Lancashire becomes the latest area to be put under a Tier 3 lockdown
• Daily cases in England rise to around 27,900, ONS data shows
• ‘We have the power to proceed’ with Manchester Tier 3 lockdown if talks fail, Raab says
• ‘Shut up and shut down now’: ICU doctor warns Manchester leaders opposing Tier 3 lockdown
• ‘A two-week circuit break national lockdown would help – but it is better done earlier rather than later’, says SAGE member
• Daily COVID fatalities could hit 240-690, scientists warn
• New rules have come into force across the UK – here’s what’s happening where
• Live reporting by Sunita Patel-Carstairs, news reporter