Most of England banned from household mixing for months under Boris Johnson's new tiered coronavirus restrictions
REUTERS/Simon Dawson
- Most of England will be banned from household mixing and visiting pubs and restaurants with friends under the UK government's toughened up 3-tier system.
- It comes as England prepares to exit from a second national lockdown next week.
- Official figures show that the infection rate of England has fallen significantly under England's national lockdown, but the number of coronavirus-related deaths on Wednesday reached 608, its highest level since May.
- English residents can search their postcode to see which tier of restrictions apply to them.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Most of England will be banned from meeting with other households, potentially until the spring, after Boris Johnson announced a toughened up 3-tier system of restrictions once the country exits from its second national lockdown.
UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced that most of the country, including London and Liverpool, will be placed under tier 2 restriction, meaning people will only be allowed to interact indoors with members of their household. Pubs and restaurants will remain open but venues will only be permitted to serve alcohol as part of a "substantial" meal.
The new restrictions, which represent a stricter version of the previous tier system, will come into place on December 2 when the UK exits from a second national lockdown.
People will be allowed to meet in groups of up to 6 in parks and other outdoor public spaces in tier 2.
However, Local authorities in England where coronavirus infection rates remain highest, including Manchester, Hull, Newcastle, Birmingham, Wolverhampton will be placed under the strictest tier 3 restrictions, meaning that pubs and restaurants will be shut and household mixing indoors or outdoors in private homes and hospitality venues will be banned.
Small parts of England, including Cornwall, where infection rates are lowest will be placed under tier 1 restrictions, where people will be allowed to meet in public or private in groups of up to 6.
Official figures show that the infection rate of England has fallen significantly under England's national lockdown, but the number of coronavirus-related deaths on Wednesday reached 608, its highest level since May.
The decisions on which tier local authorities in England will be placed into were taken at a meeting between Boris Johnson, Health Secretary Matt Hancock, other ministers, and health officials on Wednesday evening.
All local authorities will be placed under one of the three tiers, which can be searched online, and the decision will be reviewed every two weeks starting from December 16.
Authorities will be placed into specific tiers based on a number of criteria, with each decision being based on factors including how quickly infection rates are rising or falling, and the capacity of local hospitals.
Matt Hancock said in a statement on Thursday: "Thanks to the hard work and sacrifice made by people up and down the country, we are able to move out of national lockdown and into more targeted local, tiered restrictions."
"I know for those of you faced with tier 3 restrictions this will be a particularly difficult time but I want to reassure you that we'll be supporting your areas with mass community testing and extra funding.
"By following the rules together we can get out of these tough measures."
You can search for the restrictions for your area of England here.
from Business Insider https://ift.tt/2V1QOOH
No comments