NEW rules come in today *Monday Sep 14) which ban groups of more than six people from meeting socially either inside or outdoors.

The restriction is aimed at curbing a recent rise in new coronavirus cases in the UK, which have gone above 3500 a day.

The ’rule of six’ includes children under 12 and has been criticised by some for penalising large families.

Schools, workplaces, educational gatherings, weddings, funerals and places of worship are exempt from the new regulation.

Doctors in the UK say that a second peak of the virus is ’likely or very likely’ and that it is their biggest concern looking ahead to this winter. The BMA (British Medical Association) surveyed 8,000 of its members. Respondents said that the key factors to preventing a second peak were

“a fit for purpose test and trace system that provides timely results” and “a consistent approach to local outbreaks”.

The BMA has urged the Government to double down on ensuring people are adhering to infection control measures.

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, BMA council chair, said: “We, as a profession, want, above all, to avoid a return to the scenes we saw in April, when hospitals were full with Covid-19 patients, and hundreds were dying every day. Meanwhile, thousands of others missed out on vital appointments and procedures as routine care was put on hold.

“But while the forecast in this survey may be bleak, it is not an inevitability if the Government takes decisive, robust and timely action to stamp down the spread of the infection.

“Over recent weeks and months we have seen the failures of test and trace, and ongoing confusing messages to the public on what they can and cannot do, which have resulted in escalation of the virus spreading.

“Today’s new measures may attempt to simplify the message and increase enforcement, but it is clear that fundamental other issues urgently need to be tackled. This includes sorting out the test and trace debacle once and for all. It is unacceptable that people and contacts with the infection are not being identified due to failings in the system – which is resulting in the infection spreading blindly.

“With daily cases still alarmingly high, and winter just around the corner, we are at a critical crossroads in the fight against this deadly virus. All efforts must be made to avoid a repeat of the horror and tragedy we all experienced earlier this year.”

The World Health Organisation has reported the highest one-day rise, globally, in Covid-19 cases since the outbreak of the pandemic.

India, Brazil and the US are among the countries currently with the highest number of new infections.