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Mr Hancock gives some more detail about the new plan to prioritise tests for some people.

It comes after widespread shortages and problems with the UK's testing system.

The health secretary says tests will first be given to support acute clinical care.

Secondly, testing will be given to care homes, then NHS staff including GPs and pharmacists.

Fourth on the list will be tests for "targeted testing" for outbreaks.

Teachers with symptoms will be fifth, followed by the general public but "if and only if they have symptoms of coronavirus or have been specifically advised to by a health professional".

The health secretary has announced a new £500 payment in England to help support low income workers to self-isolate.

Matt Hancock told the Commons that the payment would be available to people who were unable to work from home because of testing positive or being a close contact of someone who had.

Funds will be made available through the Barnett formula to allow payments to be put in place in the devolved nations.

Mr Hancock said self-isolation was the "primary way to break the chain of transmission".

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Matt Hancock is making a statement in the House of Commons

He said the World Health Organization has confirmed that the number of new coronavirus cases in Europe is now higher than it was at the peak of the virus.

We're seeing a rise across all age groups, he said.

Mr Hancock added that the PM has held talks with the first ministers of the nations of the UK.

There can be no doubt that this virus is accelerating and we must all play a part, Mr Hancock added.

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With the prospect of lockdowns rising, leading shares across Europe have plummeted - primarily in airlines, travel firms, hotel groups and pubs.

In London, the benchmark FTSE 100 share index was down more than 3%, while the FTSE 250 index, seen as a better reflection of the health of the UK economy, was down 4% by lunchtime.

Similar falls were seen on markets in Paris, Frankfurt and Madrid.

People are more affected by stock market falls than they may think. In the UK there are millions of people with pensions - either private or through work - whose savings are invested by pension schemes.

This means the value of their savings pot is influenced by the performance of these investments - although pension investors stress these are long-term investments and are designed to ride out bouts of weakness.

Read more here.

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If you've just joined us, it's been a busy day so far in the UK as the government's top two scientific advisers addressed the nation directly about the virus.

And shortly, at around 15:30 BST, Health Secretary Matt Hancock is due to make a statement in the Commons.

Here's a recap:

• The UK should be braced for a tough winter, Prof Chris Whitty has warned. It will be a "six-month problem that we have to deal with collectively" he said. Meanwhile, the UK's chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said if the infection continued at its current rate, without any action being taken, then by mid-October there could be 50,000 cases a day

• Prime Minister Boris Johnson will make a statement about Covid in Parliament on Tuesday, it was confirmed earlier
• In Scotland, additional lockdown restrictions will "almost certainly" be put in place in the next couple of days, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said. She said "hopefully it will be with four-nations alignment" (since each of the UK's four nations is in charge of its own rules)
• Four more counties in Wales have been put under local lockdown rules. People will not be able to enter or leave Merthyr Tydfil, Bridgend, Blaenau Gwent or Newport except for some reasons, like work, and pubs will shut earlier
• And in Northern Ireland, an unscheduled meeting of the Stormont Executive has been called to discuss the rising cases and whether NI-wide restrictions are needed

• The government has agreed new emergency deals with train companies, meaning that for another 18 months taxpayers will continue to cover losses on the railways caused by low passenger numbers
• Parliament should be able to directly approve any new coronavirus lockdown restrictions, senior MP Sir Graham Brady has said. Sir Graham - who represents bachbench MPs - said the government had got used to "ruling by decree".

Labour shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth has urged the government to avoid imposing a second national lockdown following today's briefing from Prof Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance.

He said Downing Street would be to blame for a second wave of the virus, saying the government had failed to fix the testing regime and had not supported people to self-isolate.

"The government must do what it takes to prevent another lockdown, which would cause unimaginable damage to our economy and people's wellbeing," he said.

"We need an effective testing and tracing system with support for people to isolate. When testing breaks down we can't track this virus and it quickly gets out of control."

Shadow chancellor Annelise Dodds has also taken aim at the government, accusing it of a "cavalier" approach to spending during the pandemic.

Speaking at the Labour Party's online conference, she said: "You're only as cavalier with public money as our current chancellor if you don't know the value of it.

"As chancellor, I would ensure that public money was always spent wisely. Targeted where it's needed most. Not splurged where it isn't."

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Pubs in the Republic of Ireland that serve drinks but not food - known as "wet pubs" - are going to reopen for the first time since mid-March, with the exception of those in Dublin.

The reopened pubs will have to follow strict social distancing guidelines, with mandatory table service, enhanced cleaning protocols and rules that require visitors to provide their contact details.

But pubs and restaurants in Dublin that cannot provide takeaway food or outdoor food service will remain closed.

Special measures were first imposed in Dublin because of the spread of the virus in the Irish capital.

On Sunday, the Republic of Ireland reported 396 new infections - the highest figure in months - but no new deaths.

Public Health Wales says the number of cases of Covid-19 has increased by 234 as of Sunday.

No more deaths have been reported in Wales, meaning the total number of deaths since the start of the pandemic remains at 1,603.

Earlier the Welsh government announced further lockdowns in south Wales after local outbreaks.

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Most big events have been held virtually this year - and the Emmy Awards for TV shows were no exception.

Comedian Jimmy Kimmel hosted the ceremony from an eerily empty Staples Centre in Los Angeles, with a few guest presenters joining him in the studio.

Most winners, meanwhile, appeared remotely on screens around the stage, and accepted their awards by dialling in from home.

Canadian comedy Schitt's Creek and drama Succession were the big winners of the night.

Read more here

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A further 10 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died, NHS England has said, taking the total who have died in hospitals to 29,757.

The dates of the deaths ranged from 17 to 20 September.

The start of the week often sees lower figures due to delays in reporting over the weekend.

UK-wide figures will be published later in the day and can differ due to different reporting periods.

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The government has scrapped rail franchising and announced plans to extend support for train firms amid the coronavirus pandemic.

After passenger numbers fell during lockdown taxpayer money was used to plug the shortfall in ticket revenues.

So far, the bill has run to more than £3.5bn and the Department for Transport has said "significant" support will still be needed.

Passenger numbers are still less than half pre-pandemic levels and as a result, emergency measures to cover the losses of train firms have been extended by 18 months.

Throughout that period ministers hope to carry out broader reforms to Britain's railways and the move marks the end of rail franchises, which were introduced in the 1990s.

Read more here.

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A total of 243 migrants displaced by a huge fire at the Moria camp in Greece have tested positive for coronavirus, health authorities say.

Officials said they had conducted a total of 7,064 tests as migrants were moved to a temporary new camp at Kara Tepe near Mytilene on the island of Lesbos.

The average age of those tested was 24 years old, and most showed no symptoms, officials said. All police and camp staff tested negative.

More than 12,000 migrants were made homeless after the fire ripped through the Moria camp nearly two weeks ago. The authorities say the blaze broke out after 35 people tested positive for Covid-19 and some objected to being quarantined after months of lockdown.

Image source, Reuters

The United Nations is marking its 75th anniversary today - and because of the pandemic, world leaders are meeting virtually.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is going to tell leaders that they need to work together through the multilateral challenges presenting themselves in this pandemic, and a deficit of solutions, according to Reuters news agency.

The event is being live-streamed online from 09:00 EDT (14:00 BST).

The UN's headquarters is in New York, which was one of the hardest-hit cities in the first wave of the pandemic earlier this year.

Laura Kuenssberg
Political editor

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It is not a question of "if".

Downing Street will have to introduce extra restrictions to try to slow down the dramatic resurgence of coronavirus.

You would only have to have dipped into a minute or two of the sober briefing from the government's most senior doctor and scientist this morning, which you can read about here, to see why.

A second wave of the disease is here and - unchecked - it could result in many, many thousands more deaths, with potentially around 50,000 cases every day in a few weeks' time.

What is not yet settled, however, is exactly what, exactly when, and indeed, exactly where these restrictions will be.

Here's what it is important to know:

The government is not considering a new lockdown across the country right now.

The prime minister is not about to tell everyone to stay at home as he did from the Downing Street desk in March.

Ministers have no intention at all to close schools again.

Nor, right now, are they planning to tell every business, other than the non-essential, to close again.

What is likely is some kind of extra limits on our huge hospitality sector.

This could, as we reported on Friday, be a 'circuit break' - where pubs, restaurants and other places where people spend leisure time, and money, close completely for a couple of weeks.

Read more from Laura here.

Nick Triggle
Health correspondent

Image source, Reuters

The government’s most senior science and medical advisers are clearly concerned about the rise in cases that have been seen in recent weeks.

The warning about 50,000 cases a day by mid-October is stark. We don’t know for sure how many cases there were at the peak in spring (as there was very limited testing in place) although some estimates put it at 100,000.

However, they were also at pains to point out it was not a prediction.

Even among the government’s own advisers there is disagreement over whether what we are seeing is the start of an exponential rise or just a gradual increase in cases, which is what you would expect at this time of year as respiratory viruses tend to circulate more coupled with the reopening of society.

Instead, what was quite telling was the clear social messaging. Even those who are not at high risk of complications should, they say, play their part in curbing the spread of the virus because if it spreads then difficult decisions will be needed that have profound societal consequences.

But the big unanswered question is what ministers will do next. There is talk of further restrictions being introduced, but that is far from certain.

A couple of things are in our favour that were not in the spring. Better treatments for those who get very sick are now available, while the government is in a better position to protect the vulnerable groups.

Should ministers wait and see what happens? Or should they crack down early, knowing that will have a negative impact in other ways?

Guy Hedgecoe
Madrid, Spain

Image source, Reuters

Madrid’s new localised restrictions, which came into force on Monday, are not yet being backed up with sanctions. At the moment, the police are refraining from handing out fines to those who violate the measures, instead reminding them of the rules.

Vista Alegre, a normally bustling working-class area of southern Madrid, was much quieter than normal on Monday morning. Children’s parks were taped off, bars and cafes were open but quiet and police patrolled the streets.

The Galician restaurant Botafumeiro is just inside the area which has been included in the new measures. Maria Dolores Ocaña, a waitress who works there, said the restaurant expects to lose a lot of custom.

“People who live in another district, who often come here to eat, aren’t able to come here and eat for the next two weeks,” she said.

Ocaña and many others are critical of the new rules, which they say should be applied across the Madrid region, instead of singling out certain areas.

“These restrictions should not only be in poor neighbourhoods like this one, they should be all over Madrid,” said Luis Miguel de la Fuente, who lives in Vista Alegre but works for an NGO in another area of the capital. “Why should a bar here have restrictions and another one 100m away doesn’t?”

The prime minister will make a statement in the House of Commons on Tuesday about the coronavirus pandemic.

The leader of the Commons confirmed the news in a tweet.

Chris Mason
Political Correspondent

Right now, the Prime Minister is beginning a round of phonecalls -- speaking to the First Ministers of Scotland and Wales, and the First and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland.

Downing Street have also confirmed that Boris Johnson will chair a Cobra meeting on Tuesday morning.

Nomsa Maseko
BBC News, Johannesburg

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Five hundred children have been quarantined after a Covid-19 outbreak at their school in South Africa's Eastern Cape province. Government officials say the mass outbreak could have dire consequences for the community, as pupils who tested positive have been in contact with their friends and families.

Ninety-eight students tested positive for Covid-19 in one school, after what authorities say was a failure to practice social distancing or wear masks.

They say two students at Ethembeni secondary school failed to inform the school after a positive test. They then mingled with classmates during lunch breaks, without social distancing. More than 600 teachers and students have now been tested and 500 quarantined to try to prevent any further spread into the community.

South Africa eased lockdown regulations to level 1 on Monday, to allow greater movement of people and to reopen more sectors of the economy after six months of a hard lockdown. But Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has warned that the Covid-19 battle is far from over.

As mentioned a little while ago, Nicola Sturgeon has said she intends to introduce new restrictions to reduce the spread of coronavirus in Scotland within the next 48 hours.

She also said she wanted to bring in support to make it easier for people to self-isolate if they had symptoms.

Speaking at the Edinburgh briefing, the First Minister said the details of that support were still being worked out, but that they would have a focus on people in lower-wage jobs.

She said: "Nobody should be forced to choose between self-isolating for the common good and paying their rent and feeding their families - if that's the choice people face, then it shouldn't be a surprise to us that compliance levels are lower than we need it to be."

Ms Sturgeon said a Cobra meeting was being called, although a date and time had not yet been set.