Britain passes ONE MILLION Covid cases as 21,915 more people test positive and 326 die

BRITAIN today passed one million Covid cases after 21,915 more people positive for the bug.

Another 326 deaths have been recorded, meaning 46,555 have now died of coronavirus in the UK.

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In the last few weeks both Spain and France have surpassed 1million positive cases, with France announcing national lockdown restrictions earlier this week.

England is now set to follow suit, after the total number of infections in the UK hit 1,011,660 today.

Boris Johnson is expected to announce this evening that the country will be plunged back into a four-week national lockdown from Thursday.

It will mean all pubs and restaurants will close in a huge U-turn - four months after the end of the first UK-wide shutdown.

Yesterday, infections grew by 24,405 in Britain, as another 274 people died.

Today's rise in cases is slightly smaller than it was last Saturday, when the tally rose by 23,012.

The Saturday before that, however, the figure was 16,167.

It comes as...

• Britain faces new four-week national lockdown to save Christmas after scientists warn of ‘4,000 Covid deaths a day’
• PM to hold Downing Street press conference at 5pm as second national lockdown looms
• Furlough ends today – 5 things you need to know about how it affects your finances
• Britain faces 
• Panic buyers hit the shops to stock up on loo roll and milk

In England, 208 more people have died from the bug, bringing the total number of coronavirus fatalities in English hospitals to 32,855.

The patients, who died between October 21 and October 30 were aged between 26 and 101 years old.

All except eight of them (aged between 47 and 101) had underlying health conditions.

A further 1,301 cases of Covid-19 were diagnosed in Wales, bringing the total number of confirmed cases there to 50,872.

Public Health Wales said 13 more people had died, raising the country's death toll to 1,872.

Meanwhile Scotland recorded 1,101 new infections and 24 new deaths.

It means 2,843 have now died from the bug in Scotland while 63,913 Scots have tested positive.

In Northern Ireland, 708 people have died from the virus in total.

Boris Johnson is set to address the UK's surging infection rates during a Downing Street press conference this evening.

The PM is expected to be joined by chief medical officer for England Professor Chris Whitty and chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance.

He is expected to introduce new nationwide curbs for England, which could see everything closed except essential shops and educational settings.

The strict new measures could be introduced this week and remain in place until December.

'CHRISTMAS SPIKE'

The announcement comes after government scientists presented the PM with “grim” data on the second wave, despite the R-rate falling.

No 10 has been warned deaths from the virus could peak just before Christmas, with a "massive spike" on Christmas Eve.

Grim projections looking at all outcomes have left Downing Street fretting about the festive period, and the spread of the virus.