Covid-19: Liverpool on 'very high' Covid alert and Nightingale hospitals told to get ready

Here are five things you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic this Monday evening. We'll have another update for you on Tuesday morning.

Boris Johnson has confirmed a new three-tier lockdown system for England, with the Liverpool City Region on "very high" Covid alert from Wednesday. The PM said pubs, bars and betting shops will close on Merseyside. Most areas of England will be on "medium" alert, with measures such as the rule of six, but areas with local restrictions on household mixing are automatically on "high" alert. Mr Johnson said all retail outlets, schools and universities will remain open. The Scottish government will also implement a three-tier framework of Covid restrictions later in October, similar to that being introduced in England.

Several NHS Nightingale hospitals in northern England are being asked to get ready to take patients, after experts revealed more people are now in hospital with Covid than before lockdown in March. Government advisers say admissions are rising, with more elderly people needing urgent treatment. Emergency Nightingale hospitals in Manchester, Sunderland and Harrogate have been put on standby.

Next summer's A-levels and GCSEs in England are going ahead - but with the start date pushed back by three weeks. Most exams will now start from 7 June, rather than mid-May, in an attempt to make up for lost teaching time. Head teachers accused ministers of an "inadequate response" to the scale of disruption facing pupils and teachers. Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said further back-up plans would be decided later for "all scenarios".

A Chinese city is testing its entire population of nine million people for Covid-19 over a period of five days. The mass testing in Qingdao comes after the discovery of a dozen cases linked to a hospital treating virus patients arriving from abroad. In May, China tested the entire city of Wuhan - home to 11 million people and the epicentre of the global pandemic. The country has largely brought the virus under control.

Downing Street has criticised a government-backed advert suggesting a ballet dancer should retrain in "cyber". The ad, part of a campaign promoting jobs in cyber-security, sparked a social media backlash. A No 10 spokesperson said it was "not appropriate" and had been taken down, while Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden described it as "crass" and insisted it did not come from his department.

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