in london, will now find themselves in the second highest category. we'll have the latest, as more than half of england's population will now be living under "high" or "very high" alert restrictions. also tonight... safety concerns at a coronavirus testing laboratory. former staff say they were at risk. the owners say strict measures are in place. in the key state of florida we look at the strength of the latino vote, with the us presidential election less than three weeks away. and the queen takes on her first public engagement outside a royal residence for seven months. and coming up in sport on bbc news, the efl decide against taking a £50 million rescue package from the premier league, saying it fails to meet the requirements of all 72 clubs. good evening. boris johnson's strategy to tackle the pandemic on a regional level in england is now being challenged on several fronts. the mayor of greater manchester, labour's andy burnham, is resisting plans to place the region in tier three, with the toughest restrictions. he said it would amount to a "punishing lockdown" without "proper support" for the people and businesses affected. his views were backed by conservative mps and local council leaders. the picture across england is changing rapidly. the grey area is on "medium" alert, which means a 10pm curfew and the rule of six. the expanding orange area will be on "high" alert from midnight tomorrow. this will now include cities, towns and villages stretching from barrow—in—furness in cumbria to elmbridge in surrey. it includes london, essex, and york, and it means that 28 million people will no longer be able to mix indoors with other households. at the moment only the liverpool city region is in the red tier three, on "very high" alert, where people are banned from mixing with other households indoors, as well as in most settings outdoors. but as we mentioned, greater manchester and lancashire could soon be added. first, our political editor laura kuenssberg reports on a government strategy under strain. is it too late to stop the north—west‘s doors closing? the government wants bolton and every part of greater manchester in a limited lockdown. pubs and bars shut, travel restrictions, no household mixing. but students dominic and connor say at college, everyone‘s already ignoring the rules. even though we may have locked down, people are still going out, so what's the point? today i've been mixing with a load of other people, there's no social distancing, no nothing. angela's had enough. i'm sick of it. but georgia thinks a limited lockdown could be worth it. as long as it curbs the stem of coronavirus before christmas and people are able to see friends and family around the time, that's my big concern. it's not happening for now, though. listen to the resistance from the mayor of greater manchester after angry conversations with number ten. they are asking us to gamble our residents' jobs, homes and businesses and a large chunk of our economy on a strategy that their own experts tell them might not work. greater manchester, the liverpool city region, and lancashire, are being set up as the canaries in the coal mine for an experimental regional lockdown strategy. this is an important moment. greater manchester will stand firm. no applause from 200 miles away, though. there have been furious calls between ministers and mps, including angry tories. the government's not ready to force the north—west — still trying to persuade. so, i call upon local leaders to set aside this party politics and to work with us to put in place the measures that are needed in greater manchester, across the north—west, so that we can deal with this virus and support people through it. the reluctance of politicians on the ground to back harsher restrictions has been the concern that that those who live there will lose out. where firms have to close, the treasury's promised to stump up two thirds of wages, and workers could pop up with benefits. but a well—respected former government adviser says that just doesn't cut it. we are looking at a period of destitution. do we want to go back to the days where people can't put shoes on their children's feet? this is what we are talking about. are we actually asking people in places like liverpool to go out and prostitute themselves so that actually they can put food on the table? but more than 20 million people do know tonight they'll face extra limits on their lives from midnight on friday. right across london, essex, york, parts of derbyshire and cumbria, meeting friends indoors is off. for sue maybanks, it's yet more time home alone. i haven't seen anybody inside my flat since march. it's lonely. so, that's why i come out, chat to friends, outside, in the fresh air. what else can you do? martin says his dry cleaning business is already on its knees. we are in tier1 and business is completely dead. look at it. if we go to tier 2, i don't think it will make much difference anyway. and this person worries about more time indoors with the kids. i had her at home with me for six months, which was so hard to keep herentertained. unlike his counterparts in the north of england, the london mayor had been pushing for tighter rules. the virus is spreading rapidly in every corner of our city. nobody wants to see more restrictions, but this is deemed to be necessary in order to protect londoners. i must warn londoners that we've got a difficult winter ahead. downing street wants to push and pull different parts of the country in and out of limited lockdowns to match the spread of the disease. but those differences mean a clash, a war of words at least between national and local leaders. but in the end it's number ten that has the power to impose tighter rules. but remember, the tories want to keep their new—found friends in the north. there is no easy way out for either side. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. the mayor of london, labour's sadiq khan, says there was "simply no other option" than to introduce the new restrictions. he said he would continue to press the government for more financial support, but added that the winter months would be difficult. more concerns have been raised about the impact of the restrictions on businesses, particularly in the hospitality sector, with london's 10,000 pubs and restaurants. our special correspondent lucy manning has more details. london's ability to meet up, drink up and to eat out has already been limited. theatres shut, nightclubs closed, pubs finishing early. and now, 9 million londoners facing more restrictions. we've only got a small garden here. laurenjohns owns a pub in hackney, in east london. her area has some of the capital's highest covid rates. she's now scared what direction her business will go in. we already had to reduce our capacity massively to allow for social distancing. and then the 10pm curfew has cut trade by about 25%. and now this, not allowing households to mix indoors, it's just a triple whammy. we've got such restrictions on us now and no financial backing from the government, unless we're forced to close — but that won't happen until the next tier. nearby, ebony ferguson and her four children can look out over london, but worry, like many in the city without gardens, how they will see relations, now facing the same problems as many have in parts of the north for months. my eldest is autistic and partially sighted and he sees his nanna every weekend, so that's a break in his pattern, so he's going to struggle with that. i don't think their nanna is going to be able to be outside because it's too cold for her. half an hour's drive from hackney, over the river thames, most of the areas in south london have lower rates of covid cases. some here don't think all of london should be stopped from mixing inside with other households. but politicians are adamant the new restrictions must go across the whole of london, because they say londoners don't work and socialise and live in the same places, and that covid cases are going up across every borough in the city. in southwark, by shakespeare's globe theatre, the area only has nearly half the rate of covid cases, compared to london's worst areas. unfortunately, the stage is set for morejob losses. the end of october, i think we'll have lost 120 staff. and we've got people who have been working with us for ten years who have been made redundant. it is breaking the hearts of everyone. i don't think we're going to see london nightlife until the vaccine arrives. friends enjoy their last drink for a while. they won't be able to meet inside from saturday, and autumn outside isn't appealing. the pandemic's real. to be honest we've lived through a lot worse things. we can get through this, people just need to stay at home and follow the restrictions that are in place. harder for pubs and restaurants, tougherforfamilies, difficult forfriends. like leeds, like birmingham and elsewhere, this will now be life in london. lucy manning, bbc news. tonight, local leaders in lancashire have been holding talks on whether tojoin the liverpool city region in the top alert level, and if so, what kind of government support they think they need. our special correspondent ed thomas has spent the day in burnley, which has seen one of the biggest surges of infection in the uk in recent weeks. the waiting, the uncertainty. what next for burnley? normally on thursday, i remember, we was very, very busy. completely we're going quiet, even i can see from outside the town is quiet. it is not doing them any favours. at the moment, business—wise, we are getting quiet. we're losing money. we've got a lot of bills to pay, we've got rent to pay. days like this we should have three or four staff working in here. me and my mate, we've been really quiet, literally we've been sat here doing nothing. council leaders in lancashire are in talks with the government. the most severe covid alert level is almost certainly coming, but as cases rise, so too the frustration. i am fed up of it, to be honest. i'm fed up of hearing about it, it's boring me. my children, they've had to isolate, they have been tested, they are negative. they've gone back to school, two days later, another child has been positive so she's come back home again for two weeks. this is ridiculous. down the road, the bridge is still serving. they seem to be playing politics with people's livelihoods. but there's constant worry for simon. we're all waiting on tenterhooks to see if our industry is going to be shut down while theyjust fight it out about how much money they're going to get. it won't make any difference. we need a full lockdown. i had to go on benefits — i've never been on benefit. i've been working since i were 13 years old. she lost herjob as an estate agent in the first lockdown. she's 2a and still out of work. so, they basicallyjust said, because of covid, they have to let staff go, and i still have my bills to pay for, so, yes, it's a massive hit for me. what are your options? to move away, to move away and find a new future for myself, really. but there's another upsetting reality. we're the fourth highest in the country at the moment. neighbouring practices, over 50 cases in a week. it's ripping through the terraced housing. there's nothing we can do to stop it. this doctor is seeing it every day now. what is the pressure like now on front—line services? frontline services and general practice in particular, it's significant. practices and services are really creaking. the hospital is full. it's where it was in april at the previous peak. how dangerous is this moment? it's dangerous and i'm really worried about the people of this area. it is an anxious time for so many as lancashire waits to hear its new covid rules. tonight, local authority leaders across lancashire are meeting right now. this meeting has been going on since 9:30pm tonight. this deal to move to a very high covid alert level, a dealfrom the government, is being considered. what they are looking at is the test and trace package on offer. does it do the job? what they are looking at is the financial support package on offer. the question is, is the government offering enough resources to cover the hit that will happen to businesses here, like pubs and bars, if they have to close. i understand this is being considered as the final offer from the government and it could still be rejected. ed thomas, our special correspondent, with the situation in burnley and lancashire tonight. at the heart of the disagreement between regional leaders in england and number 10 is the question of how much financial support is needed for those areas facing greater restrictions. 0ur economics editor faisal islam is here now. is this the heart of the debate, really, what the chancellor, what the treasury can do in terms of these region and the help they are asking for? there is pressure on the treasury here. the government could just impose these tier three very high alert levels if they wanted to, but they need the local leaders in order to give it backing. locally, to get people frankly to comply, to have a point of these restrictions. so the people like andy burnham and greater manchester are using that leveraged to say, well, we want the return of the full furlough scheme as it was last march, 80% funding of wages. the treasury, my understanding is they are standing firm and that's not what they want to do. we heard the chancellor defending the two thirds rate for businesses that have to be shut saying it compares well with european equivalent schemes, that it can be topped up with universal credit for lower paid workers, but that's not the only issue. in the tier two, the high alert level areas you have this issue where some businesses have their business model temporarily crippled, thinking of pubs, where you can't meet between different households indoors, and yet they don't have that level of support, they have considerably lower level of support. the worst of both worlds is what they are calling it. they need support, london has joined that, other places too. in general now you have companies having to make big decisions based ona having to make big decisions based on a worst scenario having to make big decisions based on a worst scenario of what's going to happen over six months, big pub chain marston is announcing that 2000 employees will move straight from furlough and they will have to let them go. faisal islam, thank you for the update, our economics editor. the latest government figures show there were 18,980 new coronavirus infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period. that means the average number of new cases reported per day in the last week is 15,973. and as new cases have climbed, so have daily hospital admissions, with 730 people being admitted on average each day over the past week. this number doesn't include scotland. 138 deaths were reported — that's people who died within 28 days of a positive covid—19 test. that means on average in the past week 100 deaths were announced every day, which takes the official number of deaths so far across the uk to 113,293. the test and trace scheme in england has had its worst—performing week since the beginning ofjuly when it comes to reaching the contacts of those infected in the community. the tracing team only reached 58% of contacts of those testing positive in the week ending the 7th of october. 0ur health editor hugh pym has been looking at why the system is still struggling to deliver. could this be the future for mass testing of the population? children arriving at school in southampton drop off saliva samples which are tested for coronavirus. it is easy for them to do, with quick results, and is now part of a trial to assess the potential. we know we can turn around those results within 24—48 hours so it is a great opportunity not just to keep children and teachers within school settings, but also, more broadly, to other businesses and settings too. that is the aim but right now the system for testing using swabs and following up contacts in england is under strain. ministers say capacity is being increased — up 10% in a week — but some say it is not working efficiently. a lot of the calls were essentially repeat calls. martin's family are self—isolating after two tested positive but they were surprised to get dozens of calls from test and trace staff. we probably needed four or five phone calls to tell us what our end date was and how we were doing but that's it. and so the other 32 phone calls could have been given to other families. in the first week in october, the number of results back in 2a hours for people going to testing centres in england was 32.6% — slightly better than the week before but much lower than injune. just 57.6% of close contacts of those testing positive in the community were reached and asked to self—isolate — down from 62.5% the previous week. senior health officials say testing and tracing gets more and more difficult as case numbers accelerate across the population and it is really most effective when infection rates are lower than they are now and local outbreaks can be quickly identified and tackled. these sorts of restrictions that we are seeing coming in, of course they are to save lives, but they are also to reduce the number of cases in circulation so that it comes down to a manageable level so that the test and trace system is able to work so effectively that it will be able to find a much higher proportion of the people who are at risk. in spain, the testing system may be working but tracing is said to be very patchy. in berlin, long queues have built up outside testing centres. test and trace problems are notjust limited to parts of the uk. hugh pym, bbc news. people who've been working at one coronavirus testing laboratory have told a joint investigation by the bbc and the online newspaper the independent of their concerns about safety standards. 0ne scientist who worked at the milton keynes lighthouse lab claimed staff were being put at risk. the health and safety executive has found breaches in safety following the claims. the company which runs the laboratory says it has strict safety measures in place, and the government said tonight it regularly reviews and inspects the labs it uses. 0ur health correspondent sophie hutchinson reports. the lighthouse labs, sometimes called mega—labs, mass processing centres for coronavirus swab tests. the government had them set up in order to dramatically increase testing during the pandemic. one of the first to open was this lab in milton keynes where hundreds of staff process around 40,000 tests per day. but some of those who have worked here have told us of safety concerns which they fear are putting staff at risk. it's just chaotic. it's dangerous. julian harris, a virologist, worked at the lab this summer. he believes cracks in the system began to show when the calibre of staff changed. when the lab started in march, then they had furloughed academics, virologists, biologists, all these people, so they had the experience, right? but then towards the middle ofjune onwards, they started to go back. then you got an influx of these really young people with absolutely no experience. he alleges the training for new recruits was completely inadequate. these people, you know, no lab induction for a bio—safety level two, and then they are just launched into this facility. and it freaked me out. the work is carried out in protective cabinets like this, which remove infected air. but doctor harris claims, in order to get as many tests done as possible, cabinets designed for one person were being used by two — a practice other scientists have told us is at best poor and at worst dangerous. and he says the cabinets were being overloaded with piles of plastic bags from swab tests. the whole dynamics of the airflow in the cabinet is corrupted, and what you get, you get turbulence. you might as well be working on an open bench. these young people don't realise they are being put at risk. another scientist, who wanted to remain anonymous, told us he resigned from the milton keynes lab because of safety concerns. we had disposable visitor labs coats with gloves taped to the sleeves with brown parcel tape to reach into the cabinets. i know it can be permissible in developing world labs but operating that way in milton keynes wasjust inviting litigation and ridicule. the uk biocentre, which runs the lab, said safety is their number one priority. it said... it said training was robust, recruits have lab experience, cabinets were operated byjust one person with a second person observing, and that there was a choice of ppe, including cotton lab coats. we believe everyone has the right to come home safe and well from their job. .. but the health and safety executive has visited the lab. it told us it found five material breaches. we understand they relate to social distancing, cleaning regimes and site safety training. the lab said it had already reinforced its processes based on the hse‘s recommendations. the government's target is to increase testing capacity by a third by the end of the month in an attempt to get a handle on the pandemic. ensuring it can scale up safely has never been more important. sophie hutchinson, bbc news. from saturday, travellers returning to the uk from italy, san marino and vatican city will have to self—isolate this for two weeks. italy recorded its highest daily number of covid—19 cases on wednesday. but those arriving from the greek island of crete will no longer have to quarantine after it was added to the safe list. 0ur transport correspondent tom burridge is at heathrow airport with the latest. italy was the last major european country popular with uk tours to have avoided quarantine completely since the beginning ofjuly so another blow for the travel sector point up the good news is about crete and more broadly grease for those people living in scotland but airports like heathrow are eerily quiet —— greece opened i'm told quarantine is like an on off switch for bookings because really if you look at some routes that have been put on recently, airlines have put some flights back on and then there was flights have filled up but really it has had a massive impact on those bookings and airlines and airports are struggling right now, struggling to survive. big businesses, tens of thousands of jobs at stake and the only ray of light for the whole industry is a promise by ministers that testing, privately funded testing paid for by the passenger, it might at some point next month mean you only have to quarantine for a week instead of two weeks. tom burridge at heathrow. margaret ferrier, the mp who travelled from london to glasgow after testing positive for coronavirus, will face no further action from the metropolitan police. 0fficers said they decided not to take the matter any further as regulations on self—isolation in england came into force after she was tested. however they have referred the case to police scotland. the former snp mp has resisted calls to resign, stating her actions were "out of character". eu leaders have called for trade talks with the uk to continue beyond the end of the week, which was the deadline suggested by boris johnson. they said progress in key areas was "not sufficient" to reach a deal this week. the eu's chief negotiator, michel barnier, said new "intensive" talks should aim to reach a deal around the end of october. but the uk negotiator, david frost, said he'd been "disappointed" by the eu's approach. live to brussels and our europe editor katya adler. talk of deadlines and deadlines being passed but do you detect any sign of progress towards some kind of deal? we have got so used to the finger—pointing and recriminations in the last few months of negotiations but now we really are in the last stages and it is important to look at the bigger picture. and that is actually covid, rising infection is notjust in the uk but across the eu, all of the costs of reintroducing partial lockdown, the last thing you leaders wa nt to lockdown, the last thing you leaders want to throw into the mix is the practical and political and economic cost of having no deal with the uk. they are assuming borisjohnson feels the same way so they are hoping a deal can be reached over the next few weeks but you know the expression that things had to get worse before they get better? what we heard from eu leaders at their summit today is they think the uk has to do most of the compromising necessary to reach a deal. a course of the uk does not agree and as you said, chief negotiator david frost said, chief negotiator david frost said he was surprised and disappointed at the eu attitude so will the prime minister accept the eu offer of speeding up and further intensifying talks so the two sides can see the whites of each other‘s eyesin can see the whites of each other‘s eyes in the next few weeks? he says he will give us his response tomorrow. katya, many thanks, i'm sure we will talk again tomorrow. katya adler, and europe editor, in brussels. this week we've been looking at the state of the us presidential campaigns in the key electoral state of florida. there the so—called ‘latino vote' accounts for around a sixth of the electorate, and with less than three weeks to polling day, both the democrats and republicans are working hard to win their support. from miami, our north america editor jon sopel sent this report. this is donald trump's hispanic armada making a splash against miami's famous skyline. around 200 boats. it is chaotic, noisy and exuberant. if every election throws up a new way of campaigning, this is 2020's innovation — the boat parade. the president's son eric is the star attraction. eric, are you feeling confident? how are you feeling? you tell me how it looks, right? is there love in this country or is there love in this country? tremendous love. we're going to win this thing. if you look at the polls, donald trump is facing, well, very strong headwinds. he is being outspent. in key battle ground states he is down. but among hispanic voters, his head above water and in this critical state, that could be a vital lifeline. the hispanic and latino vote in florida is critical. many of these latinos have already seen what the rhetoric is on the left side, pushing socialism, free stuff. they don't want it, they are hard—working americans that are here and they want the freedom to choose. they want donald trump. both sides are pouring millions into ads for the hispanic tv market. so i said to my people, slow the testing down please. joe biden... even on spanish language stations, there is no escape from the election. adios. for president, did you vote for biden or trump? i voted for biden. biden? thank you. but the hispanic vote is not a monolithic block, as this democratic canvasser in little havana explains. here the community is not just the latino vote. it is the cuban vote, the honduran vote, the venezuelan vote. and so it is important to kind of understand where these people are coming from. joe biden was here earlier in the week and though he has a spring in his step, polls suggest he is doing way worse among latino voters than hillary clinton was four years ago. but why? the number two in the democratic party for the crucial miami dade district gives a brutally candid answer. the trump administration has run a playbook which has been sheer genius for the past three years and basically itjust says, democrats are socialists. and that is hurting you. so when you come from a country in latin america that everything you have had was taken away from you under the guise that it is a socialist government which is really a left—wing dictatorship, then when you hear that the democrats are socialists, you're running away. as these trump boater voters discovered today,

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