People on low incomes forced to self-isolate will get £500

In a statement, he said: "Self-isolation can be tough for many people especially if you're not in a position to work from home.

"I don't want anyone having to worry about their finances while they're doing the right thing.

"So we will introduce a new £500 isolation support payment for people on low incomes who can't work because they have tested positive or are asked to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace."

Matt Hancock told the Commons "there can be no doubt that this virus is accelerating".

He added: "As the chief medical officer and the chief scientific adviser said earlier today, we're seeing a rise in cases across all age groups.

"This pattern is emerging across the entirety of our United Kingdom and earlier this afternoon the Prime Minister held discussions with the first ministers of the devolved administrations and the deputy first minister of Northern Ireland to make sure that, wherever possible, we are united in our efforts to drive this virus down.

"We know that the epidemic is currently doubling around every seven days and that if we continue on this trajectory we could see 50,000 cases a day by mid-October, so there can be no doubt that this virus is accelerating."

Mr Hancock said: "Just as we're strengthening our support for those who self-isolate, we propose to strengthen the sanctions for those who do not."

On testing and contact tracing, he said: "Our daily testing capacity is now at a record high 253,521 and it continues to grow.

"Today we published our list of where tests are being prioritised, setting out how we will make sure tests are allocated where they're needed most.

"First to support acute clinical care, second to support and protect people in care homes, third NHS staff including GPs and pharmacists, fourth targeting testing for outbreak management and surveillance studies, fifth testing for teaching staff with symptoms so we can keep schools and classes open, and then the general public when they have symptoms, prioritising those in areas of high incidents."

He added: "The system relies on people coming forward for tests if and only if they have symptoms of coronavirus or have been specifically advised to by a health professional."

Matt Hancock said he hoped that an exemption for caring purposes would provide "clarity and comfort" to those living with local restrictions.

He told the Commons: "I've heard the concerns about the impact of local action on childcare arrangements. For many, informal childcare arrangements are a lifeline, without which they couldn't do their jobs.

"So, today I'm able to announce a new exemption for looking after children under the age of 14 or vulnerable adults where that is necessary for caring purposes.

"This covers both formal and informal arrangements. It does not allow for play-dates or parties, but it does mean that a consistent childcare relationship that is vital for somebody to get to work is allowed."

He added: "I hope this change will provide clarity and comfort to many people who are living with these local restrictions."

Matt Hancock acknowledged how hard it is for communities facing local action in efforts to tackle the virus.

He told the Commons: "We know from experience that local action can work when local communities come together to follow the rules, tackle the virus and keep themselves safe.

"I know how hard this is. We're constantly looking for how we can ensure measures bear down on the virus as much as possible while protecting both lives and livelihoods."

Shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth said Labour does not want another lockdown nor a "circuit break", but it would understand if one becomes necessary.

He told the Commons: "I agree we are at a perilous moment, the exponential growth of the virus cannot be ignored. This virus takes lives and leaves many with long-term debilitating conditions.

"Every reasonable action must be taken to save lives, minimise harm and keep our children in school. That means a suppression strategy to drive infections down."

Mr Ashworth urged the Health Secretary to "reject those siren voices who are telling him the virus has lost potency or we should let it rip through the herd while the vulnerable shield".

The Labour frontbencher said people have "done everything they were asked to do" by the Government and ministers were supposed to have fixed the test, trace and isolate system, adding: "None of us want to see another lockdown or circuit break but we understand if one becomes necessary.

"But test, trace and isolate should have been fixed. That failure has left us vulnerable and exposed. Now we must act with speed to save lives and minimise harm."

Replying to Labour's Jon Ashworth, Matt Hancock said: "He and I agree that the strategy to suppress the virus whilst protecting the economy and education is the right one, and I think that in so doing it's important to act fast so as not to have to act bigger later."

He also told MPs all people should follow the rules, noting: "The vast majority have throughout but critically enough have not followed them that we need to make them mandatory in many cases rather than relying on people's civic duty.

"That is the fundamental judgment behind making self-isolation mandatory."

The Health Secretary added there should be "no admissions" to care homes without a Covid-19 test.

Mr Hancock went on: "It is critical to follow the rules and for everybody to play their part in making sure we can suppress this virus while protecting, as much as possible, the things that we love."

Matt Hancock said the Government will sign up to new international guidelines to protect NHS and social care workers.

Jeremy Hunt, Tory chairman of the Commons Health and Social Care Select Committee, urged the Government to sign up to a World Health Organisation charter for health worker protection.

Mr Hunt said the charter "asks all WHO member states to commit not just to adequate supplies of PPE and mental health support but also to make sure there is zero tolerance of violence against health workers."

The Health Secretary replied: "Yes, I will happily sign up to the proposals that my right honourable friend has set out."

Tory chair of the science and technology committee Greg Clark asked about the 14-day self-isolation period.

He said: "The scientific evidence is that Covid is detectable by test within seven days of someone being infected, so why shouldn't people who've been made to self-isolate be tested seven days after a possible infection and be released if they test negative?"

Mr Hancock said: "The incubation period before which the virus can present itself is still estimated to require a 14-day self-isolation. If we can bring that figure down, I'd be the first to be pleased to do so ... if he has further scientific evidence I'd be very happy to look at it."

Tory former cabinet minister Chris Grayling said he does not believe there is a case for a new national lockdown.

He told the Commons: "Given the huge consequences of this virus for people in our communities on their mental health, particularly the younger generation who are paying a very heavy price, can I say to him that given those regional variations - and in the full knowledge of all the pressures that he is facing - I do not believe the case for further national measures has yet been made."

Mr Hancock replied: "There is an important balance between the measures that we need to take across the country as a whole and then the further and stronger measures in local areas.

"My right honourable friend will have seen... especially over the past week that we have expanded some of those local interventions to cover bigger geographies.

"He's absolutely right that there are some parts of the country where the number of cases is still thankfully very low and so the balance between what we do nationally and what we do locally is as important as the balance in terms of what we do overall."

Labour's Mary Kelly Foy (City of Durham) asked Mr Hancock "if he thinks a £10,000 fine will act as a disincentive to poorer people getting a test?"

Mr Hancock replied: "We've put in place the extra £500 in addition to other income that people are getting, for people on low incomes in order to support them to do that self-isolation ... I'm confident that people will come forward, of course do the right thing for society, but also the right thing for them."

Labour's John Cryer (Leyton and Wanstead) said he was still hearing "myriad stories" of people unable to be tested, with one constituent told to travel 600 miles of Aberdeen, adding: "Why is that the case when we're constantly told by ministers that there's no problem?"

Mr Hancock said: "Nobody's addressed the problems and the challenges that we have got in the testing system more than me and what we need to do is resolve those problems, as we have in the very large part resolved the problem of people being sent long distances.

"I'd love to know the example that he cites because I am told that that problem in the system was fixed last week and if there's a more recent example then I want to know about it."

Labour MP Kim Johnson (Liverpool Riverside) pressed Matt Hancock over what support would be given to Liverpool following a rise in the number of cases.

She said: "Liverpool incidence rates have increased very quickly and are now on the precipice of a local lockdown. There's been an increase of 247 cases on the previous week and the latest weekly rate in Liverpool is now 120 per 100,000, as previously mentioned by (Mr Hancock).

"What additional resources does (Mr Hancock) plan to provide to Liverpool and other local authorities to assist them in dealing with further localised outbreaks?"

Mr Hancock responded: "We're putting more testing into Liverpool, even not withstanding the challenges in testing capacity because it's exactly the kind of place where we need to put that testing.

"Of course, we're bringing in the support for everybody who's on low-incomes who has to self-isolate."

Matt Hancock said he believes the "more scrutiny the better" when it comes to making political judgments on tackling Covid-19.

Conservative Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, said: "Does (Mr Hancock) agree with me that balancing the measures to tackle Covid with the other health consequences such as cancer patients going undiagnosed or not treated in time and the economic and social consequences is a political judgment?

"And does he further agree with me that political judgments are improved by debate and scrutiny?"

Matt Hancock responded: "Yes I do and I do come to this despatch box as often as possible. I'm very sorry that I wasn't able to come on Friday for Friday's decision but the House wasn't sitting."

He added: "The more scrutiny the better is my attitude."

Vitamin D does not appear to have any impact on reducing the incidence of Covid-19, Matt Hancock told MPs.

He said: "Vitamin D is one of the many things that we looked into to see whether it reduces the incidence or the impact of coronavirus and I've seen reports that it does.

"We therefore put it into a trial and unfortunately the results were that it doesn't appear to have any impact.

"So, that is the latest clinical advice which, of course, is always kept under review."

Tory Simon Fell (Barrow and Furness) raised the issue of private businesses expanding testing capacity, adding: "BAE in my constituency is testing almost 6,000 employees on a weekly basis, they are keen to expand that into the community."

Mr Hancock replied: "Of course we support businesses and others who want to get tests outside of the NHS test and trace system, and we published a paper last week on how they can go about doing that.

"We encourage businesses to do that for their employees, the critical thing is that if people test positive that data must flow and by law that must flow to PHE so that we can then do the contact tracing that's necessary, and so that we can enforce the isolation that's going to be mandatory from next Monday, but we strongly support this sort of action, whether it's from employers or indeed Cambridge University, who are proposing to do this for their students."