Most of England now in a Tier 4 lockdown after Covid cases hit record high
Around three-quarters of England is now in lockdown, after areas like Greater Manchester, the entire North East and Birmingham were placed in Tier 4 by the government today.
A statement from the Department of Health also said that “almost all remaining areas” have been escalated into Tier 3 including Liverpool, York and North Yorkshire and Cornwall.
London and England’s South East remain in lockdown.
Education secretary Gavin Williamson also announced that the planned reopening of primary schools in some areas, including London, next week has been delayed.
The government has also told all secondary schools and further colleges to open next week only for vulnerable children, children of critical workers and exam students.
The country recorded 50,023 new Covid cases yesterday, with the majority of cases thought to be the new strain of the disease.
Speaking to MPs today, health secretary Matt Hancock said: “Unfortunately this new variant is spreading across most of England and cases are doubling fast.
“The NHS is under very significant pressure, there are over 21,000 people in hospital with coronavirus right now and we can see the impact that this is having.
“The threat to life from this virus is real and the pressures on the NHS are real too.”
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English Covid rates rose to 402.6 per 100,000 between 18 and 24 December – a 32 per cent increase on the previous week.
Hospitalisations have also risen by 18 per cent in the same period.
The spiraling figures have meant that the government’s back to school plan has been delayed for the most affected areas.
All primary school students will go back next week, except for London, Essex, Kent, East Sussex, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire.
Boris Johnson said: “I am afraid the start of the new term will be delayed until at least 18 January, when the latest data on those infection rates will be reviewed.
“That is because the rate of transmission in these areas is so high, and there’s just such pressure on the local NHS, that extra action is required to control the spread of the virus.”
He added: “In secondary schools, all vulnerable children and the children of critical workers will go back next week across England, as originally planned.
“But we will ask exam year pupils in secondary schools to learn remotely during the first week of term and return to the classroom from 11 January. The remaining secondary school pupils, i.e. non exam groups will go back a week later, that is from 18 January.”
The UK’s medicines regulator today announced that it had approved the AstraZeneca/Oxford University vaccine, making it the second jab to be deemed safe.
Government figures have indicated that the news could mean the end of England’s lockdowns in the next few months.
Millions of doses of the vaccine have already been produced and will be rolled out from Monday across the UK, significantly increasing the country’s capacity to administer jabs.
AstraZeneca boss Pascal Soriot said as many as 2m vaccines could be manufactured each week.
“The vaccine is our way out of this,” Hancock told the BBC.
“Whereas previously I’ve I hoped we’d be out of this by spring, I now have a high degree of confidence we’ll be out of this by spring.”