The resurgence of coronavirus poses a threat to the UK’s “fragile” economic recovery, Chancellor Rishi Sunak warned as he confirmed plans for the state to top up the wages of workers forced to cut their hours due to the pandemic.

As part of a package of measures the Chancellor said the new jobs support scheme was aimed at protecting “viable” roles rather than all posts which have been kept going as a result of state support under the furlough programme.

Under the terms of the new scheme, the Government will top up the wages of people working at least a third of their normal hours.

They will be paid for that work as normal, with the state and employers then increasing those wages to cover two-thirds of the pay they have lost by working reduced hours.

He also extended the self-employment income support scheme and 15 per cent VAT cut for the hospitality and tourism sectors, and help for businesses in repaying government-backed loans.

The Chancellor told MPs: “The resurgence of the virus, and the measures we need to take in response, pose a threat to our fragile economic recovery.”

And he acknowledged “we can’t save every business” and “we can’t save every job”.

Mr Sunak also said people must learn to live with coronavirus and “live without fear”.

The Chancellor said: “We have so often spoke of this virus in terms of lives lost, but the price our country is paying is wider than that.

“And as we think about the next few weeks and months, we need to bear all of those costs in mind.

“As such, it would be dishonest to say there is now some risk-free solution, or that we can mandate behaviour to such an extent we lose any sense of personal responsibility.

“What was true at the beginning of this crisis remains true now – it is on all of us and we must learn to live with it and live without fear.”

He also said it is everybody’s responsibility to defeat coronavirus as “the cost is paid by all”.

He told the Commons: “Today’s measures mark an important evolution in our approach. Our lives can no longer be put on hold. Since May we have taken steps to liberate our economy and society.

“We did these things because life means more than simply existing. We find meaning and hope through our friends and family, through our work and our community.

“People were not wrong for wanting that meaning, for striking towards normality, and nor was the Government wrong to want this for them.

Mr Sunak added: “The truth is the responsibility for defeating coronavirus cannot be held by Government alone. It is a collective responsibility shared by all because the cost is paid by all.”