Covid: What Are the New Tiers and Lockdown Rules in England
In the News
England enters a tougher version of its three tier system of restrictions on Wednesday, as a four-week lockdown ends.
Northern Ireland has a two-week circuit-breaker lockdown, while Wales is banning the sale of alcohol in pubs, cafes and restaurants from Friday. Scotland has its own five-tier system.
Across the UK, some restrictions will be relaxed over Christmas, to allow three households to form a "Christmas bubble".
What are England's new lockdown rules?
From just after midnight on Wednesday 2 December, areas will be placed in one of three tiers: medium, high and very high.
About 99% of England has been placed into the high and very high coronavirus risk category - tiers two and three.
The placing of areas in each tier will be reviewed every 14 days, with the first review on 16 December.
Areas in tier two
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
Tier two (high) rules
In tier two you can't socialise indoors with anyone you do not live with, or who is not in your support bubble
You can meet in a group of up to six outside - including in a garden, or a public place
Shops, gyms and personal care services (such as hairdressing) can reopen (if Covid-secure)
Pubs and bars can only open if they serve substantial meals. Alcohol can be served with that meal
Pubs and restaurants must shut at 23:00 GMT, with last orders at 22:00 GMT
Sports can resume with up to 2,000 spectators, or 50% capacity (whichever is smaller)
Collective worship, weddings and outdoor sports can resume (with restrictions)
Non-essential foreign travel allowed, subject to quarantine rules
People are advised not to travel to and from tier three areas
reas in tier three
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
Tier three (very high) rules
Additional restrictions apply:
You can't mix with anybody you do not live with, or who is not in your support bubble, indoors, or in private gardens and pub gardens
You can meet in a group of up to six in other outdoor spaces, such as parks, beaches or countryside
Shops, gyms and personal care services (such as hairdressing) can reopen (if Covid-secure)
Hospitality venues - such as bars, pubs, cafes and restaurants must stay closed, except for delivery and takeaway services
Spectator sports cannot resume
Indoor entertainment venues - such as bowling alleys and cinemas - must stay closed
People are advised not to travel to and from tier three areas
Areas in tier one
Only three areas have been placed in the lowest tier:
South East: Isle of Wight
South West: Cornwall; Isles of Scilly
Tier one (medium) rules
Areas in the lowest tier will have some restrictions relaxed:
The rule of six will apply indoors and outdoors
Spectator sports can resume with a crowd of 50% of capacity, or 4,000 spectators, whichever is smaller
There are exceptions in all tiers for childcare and support bubbles. More details of the plan are here.
How were the tiers decided?
The new coronavirus tier restrictions will mean 55 million people will be banned from mixing with other households indoors. The decision about which tier to place an area in is based on:
Total number of Covid cases in an area
The number of cases in the over 60s
The rate at which cases are rising or falling
The proportion of test results coming back positive
Pressure on the NHS
It just shows what a farce this is, we were told that no county would be split, but look at Slough, part of Berkshire where they put that into tier 3 and the remainder of Berkshire where all the wealthy stockbroker belt is in tier 2.
All of Kent before 2nd lockdown was tier 1 now afterwards all tier 3. Absolute farce!
No ,its been done because the English population has shown itself to be thick! Not knowing which county they are in let alone which borough or constituency .
Same thing in Lincolnshire , south of the county , amongst the lowest rates in the country but lumped in with the high rates in N. Lincs - but I do understand why they they have done it - to avoid any confusion .
By the way Slough has the highest rates in the country - nothing to do with the Stockbroker belt , although I would imagine your average stockbroker follows the advice given more than your average Slough resident perhaps ? As we do in S.Lincs but to no avail as those in N. Lincs obviously don't .
Ann1984 You may have to try Amazon again , the tins of Stella are quite cheap at the mo as is Bud .
Ann1984 My mate drives for Tesco , I'll get him to drop you off a lorry load when he's next over that way .
Golfforall wish was that easy my oh deliver to tesco large stores too and i bet back of truck full of it
Ann1984 I'll tip off the Border Force . You can't have our Stella without paying the duties !
Ann1984 Did they let you remove all that from England to the land of the heathen ?
Golfforall yeah tesco lady said wales going into lockdown again are the 
even better when was clubcard price
If anyone didn't know that already - then there is no hope for them or their friends and family .
Its been all over the news and papers for the last week . Hadn't you noticed ?
Surely it is to do with council boundaries. If you have a county council then the tier applies to all the county. If you have unitary authorities then each one could be in a different tier. That was my understanding anyway.
And people were told that it would only last for 2 to 3 weeks. They just give citizens a false sense of freedom.
Lockdowns is how many will live their lives.
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