ON COURSE FOR TIER 3

City and county face toughest restrictions after lockdown

THE city and parts of the county are expected be placed in the highest tier of restrictions when lockdown ends.

The Prime Minister confirmed yesterday the month-long lockdown will end on December 2 – but will be replaced by a toughened three tier system due to last until the end of March.

Local public health bosses warned infection rates of 300 cases per 100,000 cases could tip areas into Tier 3. Leicester’s rate is 454.8 cases per 100,000 and it is 342.1 in the county.

MORE information about what a new tougher tier system will look like has been revealed by the government.

Boris Johnson said the new system will be a “uniform set of measures” with no local negotiations.

HOW WILL TIERS BE DECIDED?

The main considerations will be:

■Analysis on cases in all age groups, especially the over 60s;

■The percentage of people testing positive in any one area;

■Infection rates and the direction of travel of the number of cases;

■Current and projected pressure on the NHS.

These factors might suggest one of the higher levels for Leicester and Leicestershire. Rates across the county and city are dropping but remain high and only last week Leicester’s hospitals said frontline staff are now treating more patients than they were at the pandemic’s peak in April.

WHEN WILL WE KNOW OUR TIER?

Thursday. A full list of which area is subject to what restrictions will be released later this week.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “Of course we have to look at the areas where people live and travel but at the same time, as we did previously, where

it’s clear there is a genuine difference that isn’t represented by administrative boundaries, then we will look at that.

“In the previous tiers we even split a borough in two. Nevertheless, you do have to look at where people live and travel in order to get these decisions right.”

WHAT ABOUT CHRISTMAS?

Mr Johnson said talks continue on what the rules will look like. They could be announced today.

Talking about the festive season, the PM said: “We all want some kind of Christmas, we need it, we certainly feel we deserve it. But what we don’t want is to throw caution to the winds.

“This virus is not going to grant a Christmas truce. Families will want to make a careful judgement about visiting relatives. 2020 has been a tragic year. This will be a hard winter but we’ve turned a corner and the escape route is in sight.”

WILL THIS ALL BE OVER BY SPRING?

The PM says so. He said breakthroughs with the vaccine and rapid testing will make the coronavirus restrictions obsolete.

People will “be able to hug and hold hands again,” he told MPs. “As soon as a vaccine is approved, we will dispense it as quickly as possible. But given that this can’t be done immediately, we will simultaneously use rapid turnaround testing, the lateral flow testing that gives results within 30 minutes to identify those without symptoms so they can isolate and avoid transmission.

“We’re beginning to deploy these tests in our NHS and in care homes in England so people will once again be able to hug and hold hands with loved ones.”