COULD WE BE IN TIER 2 COME CHRISTMAS?
PM BORIS BOWS TO PRESSURE OVER COVID CRACKDOWN MEASURES
NORTHERN Lincolnshire is set to enter the toughest Tier 3 restrictions when the national lockdown ends but a new report has sparked hope that may be short lived.
Boris Johnson is said to have given ground to Tory MPs on Saturday night by announcing that he would reform the latest coronavirus crackdown amid pressure from backbenchers.
With North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire among the areas with the fastest falling rates, there may be hope of a return to Tier 2 before Christmas.
The latest Government-held rolling seven-day case rates which account for cases up to November 23 gives North East Lincolnshire a case rate of 340.3 per 100,000 people and North Lincolnshire a case rate of 312.8.
On Friday it was reported that across northern Lincolnshire, the latest rates represented a drop of around 30 per cent on the previous week’s figures.
For comparison, Havering in East London has a Covid-19 infection rate of 341.7 cases per 100,000 people (a small drop of 8.4 percent) but had been earmarked for Tier 2 once the national lockdown ends. According to The Sunday Times, the Prime Minister wrote to MPs to signal that millions of people who will be hit with the toughest Tier 3 restrictions this week could see them eased on December 16. An easing of restrictions in areas with low and falling case rates would be a huge boost to the area’s hospitality industry which is hit hardest by the Tier system.
He announced that the new rules would be scrapped altogether in February unless MPs want them to continue — putting an end to claims that tough restrictions will continue until Easter.
Mr Johnson wrote: “Where evidence shows the disease is in sustained decline, areas will be moved down.”
Those expected to benefit include 16.4 million people living in 88 boroughs in Tier 3 where the Covid-19 infection rate is lower than for some areas in Tier 2 - and both North and North East Lincolnshire are below Havering, which tops Tier Two at the moment. The move came after 70 Tory MPs said they were prepared to vote against his plans when they come before parliament on Tuesday — putting the PM at the mercy of Labour.
In his letter, Mr Johnson said the tiers plan would have a “sunset clause” and would be abolished on February 3 unless MPs vote to extend it.
In a clear signal that regions could be in different tiers, he said “every local authority area and every region” would be reviewed every two weeks to see whether it should be in a lower tier. It suggests the government is abandoning the approach of restrictions applying to entire counties.
He added that new tiers will be announced on December 17 and come into force two days later.
The move has raised new questions about Mr Johnson’s approach. Hours earlier Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, had published a 2,000-word article in The Times insisting that tiers must apply to entire counties because “casting the net wide is more effective”. He also said hospitals could be overwhelmed without the curbs. Tory MP Tobias Ellwood told the Observer that Gove had been “completely disingenuous because every one of our temporary hospitals is underused. They are largely dormant.”