France should consider closing its borders with Britain and other countries that have a strong presence of the new variant of coronavirus first found in the UK, a French epidemiologist and government adviser has suggested.

“It is important that we consider whether we need to close the borders to a limited number of countries, notably the United Kingdom and Ireland,” Arnaud Fontanet, a member of the scientific council that advises the government on Covid-19 policy, said on BFM television.

“This is certainly a point for the agenda. It is not up to the scientific council to decide this, but we want to raise the issue.”

French authorities said on Sunday that the more infectious variant had now been detected in France’s Mediterranean port of Marseille and in the Alps.

Professor Chris Whitty said face masks are extremely important and should not just be worn “as a fashion accessory”.

“It’s absolutely there to protect other people,” England’s chief medical officer told a Q&A on BBC Radio 5 Live.

“I really would encourage people – if they are going on buses or on the Tube or to the shops – and do it properly over the nose and mouth and not just as a fashion accessory.

“In terms of outdoor situations, the only risk outdoors is if you’re in a crowded environment. Outdoors is much lower risk than indoors.”

Professor Chris Whitty has urged people to “double down” and stop any “unnecessary contacts”.

He told BBC Breakfast: “What we need to do before the vaccines have had their effect – because it’s going to take several weeks before that happens – is we need to really double down.

“This is everybody’s problem, any single unnecessary contact with someone is a potential link in a chain of transmission that will lead to a vulnerable person.

“We’ve all got to, as individuals, help the NHS, help our fellow citizens, by minimising the amount of unnecessary contacts we have.”

Moira Edwards, 88, became the first person to receive a coronavirus jab at Epsom racecourse in Surrey – one of seven mass vaccination sites to open in England today.

Ms Edwards, from Cobham, in Surrey, who received her first dose beside her daughter Clare Edwards, said it was “extremely important” to get the vaccine.

She said: “Having this vaccine makes it a step closer to being with my family again and giving them a big hug.”

Professor Chris Whitty suggested measures could be needed until “some time in the spring” to stem the spread of the virus.

“We’ve got to make this sustainable because we’ve got to be able to maintain this for several more weeks now,” England’s chief medical officer told BBC Breakfast.

“We’re really going to have to do a significant action for all of us for several more weeks until probably some time in the spring for very much of what we have to do.

“So, we do obviously need to be able to do essential work which they can’t do from home. We fully accept that that’s necessary to keep society going because you’ve got to be able to do it over a period of time.

“So, the three things that people can leave home for are essential work where they can’t do it from home, when they are doing exercise – which is very important for people’s physical health, their mental health – and for essential things like shopping or medical intervention.”

Paul Netherton, Deputy Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall Police, said people are getting “fed up” of lockdown restrictions and compliance from the public has dipped.

When asked whether it was harder to get people to comply with rules in the current lockdown compared to previous ones, he said: “Yes, I think people are beginning to get fed up with it.

“I can understand that but we have to be firm, we have to save lives, we have to make sure people are keeping apart, isolating and staying at home.”

Life will return to normal after the coronavirus pandemic but it is “a long way away” and will depend on people sticking to lockdown rules and the mass rollout of vaccines, England’s chief medical officer has said.

Professor Chris Whitty told the BBC: “I am confident we will go back to life as it was before at some point, that’s not in doubt, that’s the life we all want to lead.”

Once vaccines are rolled out, he said, “people will be able to have the restrictions lifted. It won’t happen in one go, and at a certain point, hopefully you’ll get back to a life that is basically exactly the same as it was before.”

“However, we’re quite a long way away from that at the moment,” he added.

England’s chief medical officer has warned the coming weeks are going “to be the worst weeks” of the coronavirus pandemic for the NHS, as he urged the public to minimise unnecessary contacts.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, professor Chris Whitty said: “The peak we had back in April last year, we had about 18,000 people in the NHS. As of yesterday we had over 30,000 people in the NHS.

“This is going to be a significant crisis for the NHS unless we take evasive action. We have a very significant problem.”

Political correspondent Ashley Cowburn has more details:

Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi was unable to assure that the current “tough” lockdown restrictions are sufficient and raised concerns of people not sticking to the rules in supermarkets or when exercising outside.

Pressed on whether the current restrictions are enough, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We don’t want to use tougher measures, the lockdown is tough, schools are shut, but it is important to remember this virus loves social interactions.

“We’re reviewing all the restrictions, but these are pretty tough at the moment. I am worried about supermarkets and people actually wearing masks and following the one-way system, and making sure when it’s at capacity they wait outside the supermarket.

“I’m worried about some of the pictures I’ve seen of social interactions in parks, if you have to exercise you can go out for exercise only.”

Thousands more people are expected to be given a Covid-19 jab as seven mass vaccination sites open across England today.

The new centres – including at a football stadium and a tennis club – will be joined later this week by hundreds more GP-led and hospital services along with the first pharmacy-led pilot sites, taking the total to around 1,200, NHS England said.

The seven new England vaccine centres opening today are: Ashton Gate in Bristol, Epsom racecourse in Surrey, the Excel Centre where London’s Nightingale hospital is based, Newcastle’s Centre for Life, the Manchester Tennis and Football Centre, Robertson House in Stevenage and Birmingham’s Millennium Point.

Health secretary Matt Hancock is due to visit one of the centres before setting out the Government’s vaccines delivery plan at a Downing Street press conference on Monday afternoon.