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Boris Johnson has unveiled a raft of new measures as the Government desperately attempts to bring a surge in new coronavirus cases under control, with infection rates understood to be

doubling across the country each week. The Prime Minister has performed a dramatic U-turn on the Government's push for people to return to work, and is now appealing for them to work

from home where possible - a message used prominently when national lockdown restrictions were imposed in March. Pubs, bars and restaurants, which have been ordered to close from 10pm on

Thursday, will now be restricted by law to offering customers table service only. The Prime Minister announced face masks will become compulsory for bar staff, shop workers, waiters and taxi

driver, with fines for anyone failing to wear a mask doubling to £200 for a first offence, which will extend to customers when they are not seated at a table. Mr Johnson also warned the new

restrictions could last for six months - taking them well beyond Christmas - "unless we palpably make progress". Britain's economy plummeted by a record 20.4 percent between

April and June when the coronavirus lockdown was tightest. This was the largest contraction reported by any major economy until that point. But there were encouraging signs in June, when

gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 8.7 percent compared to May as lockdown restrictions began to ease throughout the country. Following the announcements from the Prime Minister in the

House of Commons, Mr Neil wrote: "PM says new restrictions likely to be in place for six months, including working from home. "There goes Christmas? There goes economic

recovery?" Mr Neil also furiously hit back at one critic who questioned his "there goes Christmas" remark. One person wrote: "What on earth does 'there goes

Christmas' mean? READ MORE: BREXIT LIVE: EU BACKS DOWN FROM TALKS THREAT – MACRON PLEA IGNORED He told MPs: "We always knew that while we might have driven the virus into retreat,

the prospect of a second wave was real. "I'm sorry to say that, as in Spain and France and many other countries, we have reached a perilous turning point." But the Prime

Minister insisted the new measures do not amount to a second national lockdown. He said: "This is by no means a return to the full lockdown of March, we're not issuing a general

instruction to stay at home. "We will ensure that schools, colleges and universities stay open because nothing is more important than the education, health and wellbeing of our young

people." But he did, however, warn that tougher measures may be needed if coronavirus continues to rapidly spread with the R number remaining above one. Mr Johnson added: "I must

emphasise that if all our actions failed to bring the R below one then we reserve the right to deploy greater firepower with significantly greater restrictions." The Prime

Minister's speech came 24 hours after the Government's Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance warned that if the current infection rate is not quickly brought under control,

there could be nearly 50,000 new cases each day by mid-October.