TIER WE GO AGAIN
Confusion and anger at tough curbs Prof warns against hugs at Christmas
BORIS Johnson sparked anger and confusion yesterday after plunging most of England into the toughest Covid tiers, amid fears of a New Year national lockdown if local curbs again fail to control the virus.
The PM faced a furious backlash over the decision to place large swathes of the North and Midlands into Tier 3 where infection rates are falling while London and the South
East stays in Tier 2, despite rising numbers. And there was confusion over lifting curbs at Christmas after chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty warned against hugging elderly relatives.
There were also demands for more financial support for already struggling businesses hit by closures.
Mr Johnson said mass testing, like that being carried out in Liverpool, would help give every area “the means of escape” from the top tiers.
But after the fiasco of Test and Trace, there were
doubts he could deliver. iver. In L iverpool , 2,000 00 t r oops we re e despatched to o help with testing, ng, whi le the MoD has designated just 14,000 for the rest of the country.
Prof Whitty warned the public to avoid “stupid” actions in the lead-up to Christmas if the country is to avoid another devastating national lockdown. He said: “Would I want someone to see their family? Of course, that’s what Christmas is about. But would I encourage someone to hug and kiss their elderly relatives? No, I would not.” More than 55 million people across England will be placed in the two toughest tiers when the national lockdown ends next week.
It means more than 99% of the population will face a ban on households mixing indoors and restrictions on hospitality. Only Cornwall,
the Isles of Scilly y and the Isle of f Wight will be in Tier 1. The move will be reviewed on December 16. Mr M Johnson Jh warned: “If we ease off ff now, we risk losing control again, casting aside our hard-won gains and forcing us back into a New Year national lockdown with all the damage caused.”
Greater Manchester metro mayor Andy Burnham, whose region will again be in Tier 3, said it would cause “real hardship” as he demanded more financial support for the hospitality sector. Paul Foster, leader of South Ribble council in Lancashire, was “bitterly disappointed” that the county is going into Tier 3.
Sheffield city region mayor Dan Jarvis said South Yorkshire must not stay in Tier 3 “a moment longer than we have to”. He added: “We need better test and trace, better, fairer support for businesses and a credible roadmap out.”
The Government faces a growing rebellion among its own MPs furious that many of their areas are in Tier 2 for the first time.
Backbench chief Sir Graham Brady accused ministers of being “heavy- handed” and vowed to vote against the measures, announced by Health Secretary Matt
Hancock. Prof Whitty signalled Tier 2 areas would have to stay put as restrictions would “hold the line” but going down a tier would see infections go up. He also told how he would be working in the NHS over Christmas. The consultant physician in acute medicine and infectious diseases at University College London Hospitals and the Hospital for Tropical Diseases said: “Actually, I’ll be on the wards.” UK coronavirus deaths yesterday rose by 498 to 57,031.