From September 28, those who violate Covid-19 restrictions in the UK will face fines of up to £10,000 (nearly $13,000), as health secretary Matt Hancock said the country is at a “tipping point” with cases rising exponentially.

The country reported a further 4,422 new cases on Saturday, the biggest daily increase since early May.

Hancock told TV channels on Sunday: “This country faces a tipping point. We face a choice. If everybody follows the rules …then we can avoid further national lockdowns”.

“But we of course have to be prepared to take action if that is what is necessary. I don’t rule it out; I don’t want to see it.”

The fines for those breaching self-isolation rules will start at £1,000 (nearly $1,300), but could increase to up to £10,000 for repeat offences and for the most egregious breaches, including for those preventing others from self-isolating.

Russia reported 6,148 cases of Covid-19 in the past day, the most new cases registered in two months. The number of new infections is up 30% since September 1, when schools opened.

France’s daily coronavirus cases surged to the highest since the national lockdown ended in May. Another 13,498 cases were reported on Saturday, the second straight day over 13,000.

To the alarm of experts, Italians headed to the polls for a referendum and regional elections. Just a week after a Herculean effort by schools to reopen in line with last-minute Covid-19 rules, classrooms across the country were shut to pupils and transformed into ballot stations.

In Spain, nearly a million Madrid residents went into a partial lockdown from Sunday.

Meanwhile global fatalities neared 1 million, and deaths in the US, the worst-hit country, moved closer to 200,000.