STRICTER MEASURES AHEAD
TIGHTER RULES EXPECTED WHEN LOCKDOWN ENDS – AND BRISTOL COULD GO INTO TOP CATEGORY
ENGLAND is set to enter a tougher system of local coronavirus restrictions when lockdown ends next week – and there are fears Bristol could go into Tier 3, the strictest category.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to detail his plan for winter to MPs today, setting out how people can see loved ones at Christmas.
The “Covid winter plan” is expected to place more areas into the higher tiers to keep the virus under control to ensure further restrictions are not needed, No 10 said.
The tiers are expected to be strengthened to safeguard the gains made during the national lockdown but it is understood the controversial 10pm curfew on pubs and restaurants will be altered under the new system.
The Prime Minister is expected to say that, while last orders must be called at 10pm, people will get an extra hour to finish food and drinks.
Ministers have made clear the festive season will be different to normal, with some restrictions expected to remain in place.
Ministers will detail what tier each area will be placed into on Thursday and MPs are expected to be given the vote to approve the new system, as promised by Mr Johnson, in the days before it comes into force on December 2.
They are optimistic restrictions can be gradually reduced in the run-up to spring. Providing vaccines are approved by regulators, the plan is for the rollout to begin next month before a wider programme in the new year.
But the Prime Minister will be wary of a rebellion from backbench Tory MPs who oppose new restrictions.
The Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) is expected to publish papers today saying the previous tiers were not strong enough.
In Bristol, there are concerns we will be plunged into Tier 3 restrictions – the strictest category – after lockdown comes to an end in December, unless the spread of the virus slows down.
In a statement last week, Bristol mayor Marvin Rees said the city’s cases were surging at a “rapid rate” despite being more than two weeks into the national lockdown.
More than 14,000 people in Bristol have contracted coronavirus since the pandemic first struck.
The daily government figures record yet another triple-figure rise in the city’s cases on Saturday, with a further 158 people testing positive for Covid-19.
This brings the overall total to 14,158 since the outbreak first began here in March, with the vast majority of those people infected during the second wave.
One more person in Bristol has died after contracting the virus, and another death has been recorded in Bath and North East Somerset.
The daily rise is significantly lower than the 279 cases recorded in the city yesterday, but this could be due to the ‘weekend effect’.
Government guidance advises: “Counts of cases, admissions, deaths, etc. vary from day to day just through natural random changes, but also tend to vary throughout the week systematically, so that rates are consistently lower at weekends.”
The daily figures, with the cumulative total in brackets, since the pandemic began:
» Bristol +158 (14,158)
» North Somerset +68 (3,636)
» Bath and North East Somerset +33 (3,396)
South Gloucestershire +69 (5,600)
Nationally, a further 19,875 cases were recorded on Saturday, taking the total since March to 1,493,383.
Another 341 people have died with the virus, meaning the UK death toll now stands at 54,626.