Covid-19: Most of England facing tough rules after lockdown

Most of England will be in the two toughest levels of measures when lockdown ends, Matt Hancock confirmed.

The new coronavirus tier restrictions will mean millions of people are banned from mixing with other households indoors after 2 December.

Large parts of the Midlands, North East and North West, including Manchester, as well as Kent, are in tier three.

A majority of places are in the second-highest level - tier two - including London, and Liverpool city region.

The Isle of Wight, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly - where there have been no recorded cases in the past week - will be the only areas of England in the lowest level of curbs - tier one.

Meanwhile, a rush for details saw the government website repeatedly crash.

The health secretary set out the reasoning behind the tier decisions for each area in a written ministerial statement. A full list of areas and tiers is below.

Mr Hancock told the Commons: "Hope is on the horizon but we still have further to go. So we must all dig deep."

"We should see these restrictions not as a boundary to push but as a limit on what the public health advice says we can safely do in any area," he added.

Around 23 million people across 21 local authority areas will be in the highest level - tier three - including Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, Tees Valley Combined Authority and North East Combined Authority.

Lancashire, Leicester, Lincolnshire, Slough, Bristol, Kent and Medway will also be in tier three.

Differences between the new tiers include restrictions on where households can meet up:

Gyms and close-contact beauty services like hairdressers will be able to open in all tiers. Guidance said people in all tiers who can work from home should continue to do so.

Earlier, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said even those in the highest level of restrictions in England - tier three - would see a "tangible change" compared to the current lockdown.

The system will be regularly reviewed and an area's tier level may change before Christmas - the first review is scheduled for 16 December.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will lead a Downing Street news conference at 17:00 GMT.

The new system includes stricter rules for hospitality venues than the previous one and more local authorities will face higher levels of restrictions.

Decisions on tiers are based on public health recommendations informed by a series of public health data, including Covid-19 cases among the over-60s, positivity rates, pressure on the NHS and how quickly cases are rising or falling.

Areas placed in tier three will be eligible for rapid or "lateral flow" tests - which give results in about 20 minutes without the need for a lab - to help bring down infections and reduce restrictions.

And they will be offered support by NHS Test and Trace and the armed forces to deliver a six-week rapid community testing programme.

Devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have the power to set their own coronavirus regulations, though all four UK nations have agreed a joint plan for Christmas.

In tier three Lancashire, chair of the council's resilience forum, Angie Ridgwell, said there was "disappointment" but also clarity over what needed to happen to lower infection rates.

Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson said the city region's move from tier three to tier two was a "great result" and thanked residents for their efforts to drive down the virus alongside a trial of mass testing.

"We embraced tier three restrictions and worked fast to deliver the testing pilot, bringing in the Army to help us deliver an efficient service," he said.

Mr Hancock said Covid-19 cases in Liverpool had fallen 69% in six weeks and the city showed that "the more people get tested, the quicker an area can move down through the tiers".

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said the decision to place the capital in the second-highest level - tier two - was the result of people's "monumental sacrifice" and would be a "welcome boost" for businesses.

South East

Isle of Wight

South West

Cornwall

Isles of Scilly

North West

Cumbria

Liverpool City Region

Warrington and Cheshire

Yorkshire

York

North Yorkshire

West Midlands

Worcestershire

Herefordshire

Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin

East Midlands

Rutland

Northamptonshire

East of England

Suffolk

Hertfordshire

Cambridgeshire, including Peterborough

Norfolk

Essex, Thurrock and Southend on Sea

Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes

London

All 32 boroughs plus the City of London

South East

East Sussex

West Sussex

Brighton and Hove

Surrey

Reading

Wokingham

Bracknell Forest

Windsor and Maidenhead

West Berkshire

Hampshire (except the Isle of Wight), Portsmouth and Southampton

Buckinghamshire

Oxfordshire

South West

South Somerset, Somerset West and Taunton, Mendip and Sedgemoor

Bath and North East Somerset

Dorset

Bournemouth

Christchurch

Poole

Gloucestershire

Wiltshire and Swindon

Devon

North East

Tees Valley Combined Authority:

Hartlepool

Middlesbrough

Stockton-on-Tees

Redcar and Cleveland

Darlington

North East Combined Authority:

Sunderland

South Tyneside

Gateshead

Newcastle upon Tyne

North Tyneside

County Durham

Northumberland

North West

Greater Manchester

Lancashire

Blackpool

Blackburn with Darwen

Yorkshire and The Humber

The Humber

West Yorkshire

South Yorkshire

West Midlands

Birmingham and Black Country

Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent

Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull

East Midlands

Derby and Derbyshire

Nottingham and Nottinghamshire

Leicester and Leicestershire

Lincolnshire

South East

Slough (remainder of Berkshire is tier 2: High alert)

Kent and Medway

South West

Bristol

South Gloucestershire

North Somerset

Published by HM Government on 26 November 2020

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