Coronavirus: Which new areas have entered Tier 4 in England?

23 December 2020, 15:33 | Updated: 31 December 2020, 00:24

Many more areas of England have entered Tier 4 restrictions on New Year's Eve, as coronavirus cases spread rapidly across the country.

Many areas of England joined London and most of the South of England in Tier 4. Other areas also moved up from Tier 2 to Tier 3, with no areas left in Tier 2 in England.

Meanwhile, just one area is in Tier 1 - the Isles of Scilly - where residents fear the arrival of "selfish" tourists from the mainland.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the action is necessary due to "sharply rising cases and the hospitalisations".

The new strain of the virus has been blamed for increasing the number of cases in the UK, with over 50,000 daily cases recorded fro the first time on Tuesday.

Which areas have moved up a tier into Tiers 3 and 4?

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What are the rules in Tier 4?

From 00.01 GMT on New Year's Eve, Thursday 31 December, a large number of areas in the UK moved up to Tier 4.

The move placed an additional 20 million people in Tier 4, taking the total number of people under Tier 4 to 44 million - 78 per cent of England's population.

Tier 4 is effectively a lockdown, with a ‘Stay at Home’ message in place and all hospitality and non-essential shops closed.

Hairdressers, nail bars, gyms and indoor entertainment venues must close. It is also illegal for people to leave a Tier 4 area, apart from some limited exceptions.

People living in Tier 4 areas can only meet one other person from another household in an open public space. However, this is not allowed in private gardens.

Support bubbles are still allowed and children can move between separated parents, as in the national lockdown.

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The areas that have moved into Tier 4 are:

- Leicester City

- Leicestershire (Oadby and Wigston, Harborough, Hinckley and Bosworth, Blaby, Charnwood, North West Leicestershire, Melton)

- Lincolnshire (City of Lincoln, Boston, South Kesteven, West Lindsey, North Kesteven, South Holland, East Lindsey)

- Northamptonshire (Corby, Daventry, East Northamptonshire, Kettering, Northampton, South Northamptonshire, Wellingborough)

- Derby and Derbyshire (Derby, Amber Valley, South Derbyshire, Bolsover, North East Derbyshire, Chesterfield, Erewash, Derbyshire Dales, High Peak)

- Nottingham and Nottinghamshire (Gedling, Ashfield, Mansfield, Rushcliffe, Bassetlaw, Newark and Sherwood, Nottinghamshire, Broxtowe)

- Birmingham and Black Country (Dudley, Birmingham, Sandwell, Walsall, Wolverhampton)

- Coventry

- Solihull

- Warwickshire (Rugby, Nuneaton and Bedworth, Warwick, North Warwickshire, Stratford-upon-Avon)

- Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent (East Staffordshire, Stafford, South Staffordshire, Cannock Chase, Lichfield, Staffordshire Moorlands, Newcastle under Lyme, Tamworth, Stoke-on-Trent)

- Lancashire (Burnley, Pendle, Blackburn with Darwen, Ribble Valley, Blackpool, Preston, Hyndburn, Chorley, Fylde, Lancaster, Rossendale, South Ribble, West Lancashire, Wyre)

- Cheshire and Warrington (Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Warrington)

- Cumbria (Eden, Carlisle, South Lakeland, Barrow-in-Furness, Copeland, Allerdale)

- Greater Manchester (Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan)

- Tees Valley (Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, Stockton-on-Tees )

- North East (County Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, North Tyneside, Northumberland, South Tyneside, Sunderland)

- Gloucestershire (Gloucester, Forest of Dean, Cotswolds, Tewkesbury, Stroud, Cheltenham)

- Somerset Council (Mendip, Sedgemoor, Somerset West and Taunton, South Somerset)

- Swindon

- Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole

- Isle of Wight

- New Forest

What are the rules in Tier 3?

From 00.01 GMT on New Year's Eve, Thursday 31 December, a number of areas in the UK moved up to Tier 3.

This includes Liverpool, which had been held up as an example of where testing had brought down cases.

In Tier 3 - Very High Alert- areas, hospitality venues must close and can only serve takeaway food.

Like Tier 4, socialising with other households is not allowed indoors or in private gardens.

Meeting up to six people is allowed in public spaces such as parks, beaches or the countryside.

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The areas that have moved into Tier 3 are:

- Rutland

- Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin

- Worcestershire (Bromsgrove, Malvern Hills, Redditch, Worcester, Wychavon, Wyre Forest)

- Herefordshire

- Liverpool City Region (Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, Wirral, St Helens)

- York & North Yorkshire (Scarborough, Hambleton, Richmondshire, Selby, Craven, Ryedale, Harrogate, City of York)

- Bath and North East Somerset

- Devon, Plymouth, Torbay (East Devon, Exeter, Mid Devon, North Devon, South Hams, Teignbridge, Torridge, West Devon, Plymouth, Torbay)

- Cornwall

- Dorset

- Wiltshire

Read more: New Covid strain: Where is the new variant in the UK and where did it come from?

Read more: London critical care patients 'could be moved to Yorkshire', HSJ reports

Which areas have stayed in Tier 1?

The only area of England that has been kept in Tier 1 is the Isles of Scilly.

This is the only tier where household mixing is allowed indoors, with a rule of six applying.

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