Championship season to continue for Luton despite Prime Minister confirming a national lockdown until early December

Luton Town's Championship season will continue despite Prime Minister Boris Johnson announcing the country will enter a period of lockdown from next week until early December.

With coronavirus cases rising, the PM took the decision this evening to try and avoid the NHS being overwhelmed, confirming the measures will run from Thursday, November 5 until Wednesday, December 2.

Last term, the Hatters' campaign along with the Premier League and Football League seasons, were halted in March before the first national lockdown, resuming in June, although has been played in front of empty stadiums.

There were worries that the season, which is already being squeezed into a short amount of time wouldn't carry on, but at the press conference this evening, Johnson said: "Yes to the Premier League," when asked if top-flight football will continue.

Meanwhile culture secretary Oliver Dowden tweeted: "The changes mean people should work from home where possible.

"But where this is not possible, travel to a place of work will be permitted - e.g. this includes (but not exhaustive) elite sport played behind closed doors."

A statement on the EFL website said: "The EFL notes the difficult decision taken by the Government in respect of the implementation of a ‘national lockdown’ in England from Thursday 5 November 2020 in response to the rising cases of COVID-19.

"During this next phase it has been confirmed to the League by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) that elite sport will be able to continue and EFL competitions will therefore remain as currently scheduled (in both England and Wales).

"Professional football has implemented some of the most stringent, robust and regularly reviewed protocols since the restart in June 2020 and our medical experts’ advice remains in place to fully adhere to these measures which are specifically designed to mitigate against the spread of the virus.

"The health, safety and well-being of players and club staff throughout the pandemic has been our first priority and this will continue as we enter this next period of lockdown and beyond.

"In addition, we acknowledge the Government’s national efforts in tackling this outbreak and would hope that during this next phase of the crisis, our national sport, negatively affected by COVID-19 like many other industries, can continue to provide some form of welcome distraction and give people in our communities up and down the country a sense of normality in very challenging times."