Coronavirus live news: England tightens restrictions, WHO says ‘young people’ behind some spikes | World news

Parts of the north of England have had a new face ban on indoor meetings between households introduced in the past half hour. The new measures apply to Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and East Lancashire after increase in cases. (Specifically: Greater Manchester, Pendle, Hyndburn, Burnley, Rossendale, Blackburn with Darwen, Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leicester City).

The new measures mean:

• People in the affected areas will not be permitted to mix with other households (apart from those in their support bubbles) in private homes or gardens.
• Some exemptions will be put in place, including for the vulnerable.
• The government will sign new regulations to make these changes legally enforceable.
• The regulations will give local authorities and police forces the powers to enforce these restrictions and more details on these will be set out when the regulations are published.
• Households may go to hospitality, for instance bars and pubs, but new guidance will make clear that two households should not go to hospitality together.

You can see the full details recently published on the Department of Health website. It says the measures were brought in because of an increasing trend in the number of cases per 100,000 people in the areas. Data suggested transmission among households was a key infection pathway in the area, the ministry said.

Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the continuing coronavirus pandemic, with me, Alison Rourke.

England has reintroduced lockdown measures over large areas of the north of the country, after a surge in cases the country’s health secretary, Matt Hancock, says have been caused largely by people “not abiding to social distancing”. On Thursday night he said from midnight people from different households in Greater Manchester, parts of East Lancashire, West Yorkshire and Leicester would not be able to meet each other indoors.

Other European countries are also tightening restrictions. After a surge in infections, Iceland reduced the numbers on gatherings. France and Spain recorded their highest case levels in weeks, prompting several French cities to impose face mask requirements. Spain has already seen a number of localised restrictions introduced to control the virus.

The World Health Organization has delivered another stark warning to young people that they were not “invincible” and at risk of catching Covid-19. It warned that spikes in coronavirus transmission in a number of countries were being driven by young people “letting down their guard”.

In other developments:

• The US economy suffered its worst quarter since the second world war as GDP shrunk by 32.9%. The government figures, revealed on Thursday, showed more signs of the pandemic’s heavy toll on the country’s economy.
• Spain recorded its highest daily increase in the number of coronavirus cases since lockdown was lifted on 21 June. On Thursday, 1,229 new infections were reported, topping 1,000 for the second day in a row.
• France ruled out a “catastrophic” second national lockdown despite a rise in coronavirus infections. The prime minister Jean Castex said the priority was still prevention, as a second national lockdown would be catastrophic, both socially and economically.
• Japan recorded a record high for new cases for the second day in a row. At least 1,274 cases were reported on Thursday, including a record 367 in Tokyo, where officials are considering issuing its own version of a state of emergency depending on the number of cases in the coming days.
• Brazil recorded 57,837 additional confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, as well as 1,129 deaths, the Health Ministry said on Thursday. Brazil has registered more than 2.6 million cases of the virus since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 91,263, according to ministry data.
• Libya’s internationally recognised government in Tripoli will impose a full lockdown in areas of the country it controls following a sharp rise in coronavirus cases.