London has moved into the toughest Tier 3 restrictions to control a surge in new cases of the coronavirus as Prime Minister Boris Johnson continues to rebuff pressure to end his plans to ease restrictions over Christmas.

Almost 10.8 million people in London and other parts of the South East join millions of others in the UK currently living under the tough restrictions that mean a ban on all indoor household mixing and the closure of many hospitality and entertainment venues.

Despite a sharp uptick in the overall numbers of new cases of Covid-19 in England, Johnson has resisted calls to scrap or change his plans to allow up to three households to mix between December 23-27.

That's after he was warned by two leading medical journals that a lessening of restrictions would "cost many lives", and the British Medical Association (BMA) echoed Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer in demanding an urgent rethink.

News Shopper: People out in the West End of London after pubs close, before London moves into the highest tier of coronavirus restrictions from Wednesday as a result of soaring case rates. Image: Aaron Chown/PA WirePeople out in the West End of London after pubs close, before London moves into the highest tier of coronavirus restrictions from Wednesday as a result of soaring case rates. Image: Aaron Chown/PA Wire

Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove will resume crisis talks over the plans for up to three households to mix between December 23 and 27 with leaders of the devolved administrations on Wednesday morning.

A UK Government source acknowledged the four UK nations may take differing approaches, but insisted there would be no change in the law for the festive freedoms in England.

With 61 per cent of England's population now living under the strictest measures, ministers were due to formally review what tiers are appropriate for each area today (Wednesday, December 16).

The Government said a further 506 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19, bringing the UK total to 64,908. Another 18,450 infections were also confirmed in labs as of 9am on Tuesday.

Many of those came in London, where Greenwich Council were forced by the threat of legal action from the Department of Education to order schools to stay open, despite an alarming spike in the number of new coronavirus cases in the borough. 

The sharp rise in cases prompted Public Health England (PHE) to advise urgent action from the council, who ordered schools to close from Monday in an effort to curb infections, only to back down after the DFE threatened legal action against schools and headteachers who did not stay open despite the risks.

Earlier, the British Medical Journal and Health Service Journal published a rare joint editorial calling for the "rash" decision to relax social distancing measures over the festive period to be scrapped.

They said the Mr Johnson "is about to blunder into another major error that will cost many lives".

"The Government was too slow to introduce restrictions in the spring and again in the autumn," the joint editorial said.

"It should now reverse its rash decision to allow household mixing and instead extend the tiers over the five-day Christmas period in order to bring numbers down in the advance of a likely third wave."

The BMA backed the warning, saying the combination of a third wave in the new year and the typical winter pressures are a "recipe for catastrophe".