Piers Morgan battles with Dr Hilary over 10pm coronavirus curfew as he says Brits will hit the pub earlier

PIERS Morgan battled with Dr Hilary Jones over the new 10pm coronavirus curfew as he insisted Brits can hit the pub earlier.

Piers, 55, tore into yesterday's government press conference on Good Morning Britain after top scientist Sir Patrick Vallance said the virus is "doubling every seven days".

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Today, Piers called prime minister Boris Johnson "pathetic" for skipping the public adress hosted by Chief medical officer Chris Whitty.

Taking his frustrations out on Dr Hilary, Piers raged: "We need to get our head around where they are getting that figure. 'Doubling' has not happened anywhere else, why would it happen here?"

And he hit out at government plans to close pubs at 10pm, adding: "I just don't get this, Hilary what difference does it make closing a pub at 10 or 11?

"To me it's like what are we trying to do here? What is the strategy? Are we trying to suppress it? Stop it?

"It seems to be we are tinkering while Rome burns – if we believe it's as bad as you say it is."

"The mixed messaging has to stop."

Dr Hilary shot back: "We're in a pandemic, the virus is transmitted between human beings, we have to restrict that.

"Would you do nothing Piers?"

But Piers, whose step-father ran a pub, insisted Brits will go to their local boozers earlier and drink faster.

He added: "My question is I don't understand the logic of saying we're going to shut pubs an hour earlier they're all abiding by the safety rules doing it the right way and not much difference between 10 and 11.

"People will just go earlier, they'll go out earlier, they'll go out from 7pm instead of 8pm."

The new rules around pubs and restaurants closing early are expected to start on Thursday, but it is not clear how long they will last for.

The move came as the nation's four chief scientists lifted the UK's covid threat level up from three to four.

It means transmission of the virus is high, or rising "exponentially", and more social distancing measures are likely to come in.

Piers has long been a vocal critic of the government – and people seeking to play down the danger of coroanvirus.

Tweeting tonight, he wrote: "The more Covid cases & hospitalisations rise, the more furious Covidiots become in insisting there is ‘NOTHING TO SEE HERE!’

"Just staggering. This is self-evidently a very serious moment in the pandemic, but their crazed desire to be proven right overrides reality."

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