MERSEY MISSION
■ LIVERPOOL PUT INTO TOP TIER OF LOCKDOWN WITH PUBS SHUTTING ■ MANCHESTER & NORTH-EAST BANNED FROM MIXING INDOORS ■ LONDON IS ON BRINK OF FRESH CURBS AS CASES IN CAPITAL SOAR
A VAST swathe of northern England is facing even tougher Covid restrictions from tomorrow – with Liverpool placed in virtual lockdown.
Pubs and bars will be closed and households stopped from mixing anywhere on Merseyside as Boris Johnson confirmed his three-tier plan to deal with the second wave of coronavirus.
Insisting he would not ‘let it rip’, the prime minister said cases were rising all over country. ‘The figures are flashing at us like dashboard warnings in a passenger jet,’ he told the nation at a Downing Street press conference.
And in a worrying message to those hoping restrictions could be lifted for Christmas, he added: ‘We’ll do our absolute best to try to make sure we can get life back to as close to normal as possible for Christmas. But that is going to depend, I’m afraid, on our success in getting this virus down and our ability as a country to follow through on the package of measures.’
Liverpool is the only area to be placed in the tier three ‘very high risk’ category. Those in tier two ‘high risk’ include Greater Manchester, Leicester, Lancashire, Blackpool, the West Midlands, South and West Yorkshire and the whole of north-east England.
In these regions, pubs can stay open but households will be banned from mixing indoors.
London is expected to be placed in tier one ‘medium risk’, along with the rest of the country, facing only existing nationwide restrictions. But mayor Sadiq Khan warned it could be moved upwards ‘very quickly... potentially even this week’. Mr Johnson said that cases
had quadrupled in the last three weeks but said that a second national lockdown would ‘shatter our lives and society’.
He told MPs: ‘This is not how we want to live our lives but this is the narrow path we have to tread.
‘The weeks and months ahead will continue to be difficult and will test the mettle of this country.’
In tier three areas, pubs will only be allowed to stay open and sell drinks ‘with substantial meals... as if they were a restaurant’. Wedding receptions will be banned.
The PM said a postcode checker would be available for people to see what tier they are in on NHS Test and Trace.
He was still holding talks with town hall boses across the north of England last night over whether areas with rocketing infection rates would join Liverpool in tier three. ‘Engagement with other leaders in the north-west, the northeast and Yorkshire and Humber is continuing,’ Mr Johnson said.
‘I know how difficult this is – they like, like everyone in the house, are grappling with very real dilemmas
– but we cannot let the NHS fall over when lives are at stake.’
The UK recorded 50 deaths and 13,972 new cases yesterday. Hospitals have more patients with Covid-19 than they did when the nation went into lockdown on March 23.
England’s deputy chief medical officer Prof Jonathan Van-Tam warned that the situation had changed in a ‘matter of a few days’.
Steve Rotheram, Metro Mayor of Liverpool City Region, said chancellor Rishi Sunak had to ‘step up to the plate’ and increase support to the area. He said he was offered no choice about the city being placed in the ‘very high risk’ category.
‘We were told we were going into tier three, no ifs, no buts,’ he said. ‘Some people like to shout at the wind but, if they can’t change the direction of the wind, it is important to shield people from its effects.’
Mr Sunak said there would be £500million extra funding for areas in tier three. A national programme of financial support ‘will benefit people the same wherever they live and whatever job they do’, he added.
The PM also promised £1billion to help local authorities and said regions in tier three would have theirt status reviewed every four weeks. Hospital admissions and ‘other factors’ will be considered alongsidea infection rates when deciding which category an area is placed in. Liverpool chamber of commerce said local businesses were ‘bewildered, frustrated and angry’, with betting shops, gyms, leisure centres and casinos also facing closure.
‘Businesses need to understand the clear evidence for the restrictions that are now being imposed as many have worked so hard to become Covid safe,’
chief executive Paul Cherpeau said. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he was ‘deeply sceptical’ about the threetier plan, with virus rates increasing in 19 out of 20 areas with local lockdowns.
‘In June, he promised that 100 per cent of test results would be turned around within 24 hours,’ Sir Keir said. ‘The latest figure is just 24 per cent.
‘This serial failure, combined with the repeated leaks, has fatally eroded public confidence just when we need it most.’
England’s chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty warned the PM’s measures may not be enough to stop the spread of coronavirus. ‘There are quite a lot of additional things that can be done with local guidance,’ he said.
‘But everyone has got to buy into them because that is how they work.’