Boris Johnson faced a welter of criticism as begged the public to keep faith with his draconian rules despite the testing system descending into a shambles, with fears schools and offices will have to shut because people with mild symptoms cannot prove they are negative. Ministers have been forced to fend off claims that chief medical officer Chris Whitty is pushing for a two-week national lockdown. Amid bitter clashes between experts over the best way to respond to the rise in Covid cases, the North East is the latest area facing new curbs, including forcing pubs to shut at 10pm and a ban on households socialising with anyone else. In London, public health chiefs have warned of looming curfews, while ministers have hinted that the edict for everyone to work from home could be reinstated soon if infections do not come back under control. Matt Hancock has been branded 'out of his depth' after it emerged that the Department of Health ordered mobile testing vans to leave County Durham just last week as the problems spiralled. Jacob Rees-Mogg also risked fuelling anger by complaining of 'endless carping' about difficulties getting checked. Meanwhile, testing tsar Baroness Dido Harding is facing a roasting from MPs.