Christmas warning
NORTH East MPs are still in the dark as the region waits to hear if it is to stay under Tier 3 restrictions.
The Government is expected to announce today whether to relax local lockdown restrictions in the North East – but all signs point to the region being kept in Tier 3 for now.
A rise in cases around the country has forced the Government to continue to be cautious. London and parts of Essex and Hertfordshire entered Tier 3 restrictions yesterday.
And Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty used a Downing Street briefing yesterday to urge that people have a “shorter, safer Christmas” and avoid mixing as far as possible.
However, guidance that three households can mix over five days at Christmas remains in place. Ian Mearns, MP for Gateshead, said he hasn’t heard anything about the tiers review since a meeting with social care minister Helen Whately and Peter Kelly of Public Health England North East last week. He said: “It’s been quite some time. I was alarmed in that call that the data provided for us in terms of influencing thinking was over a week old. If they used weekold data now it would be in our favour, it was 70 cases per day, now we’re back at 95. Government haven’t been back in touch with us to update. All we can do is await the announcement with trepidation.”
Every council area across the North East has been in the strictest category of local Covid measures since the second lockdown ended, meaning that pubs and restaurants have had to stay shut and spectators have not been allowed back into football stadiums, theatres or cinemas.
But Mr Mearns said that moving down to the less restrictive Tier 2 would have “minimal impact” on the economy. He said: “Given the proximity to Christmas, the difference it would make to businesses over the next couple of days would be of limited comfort. We all wish we weren’t here but this is where we find ourselves.”
In a Downing Street press conference, Mr Johnson confirmed there will be no changes to legally-enforced regulations that allow three households to form a festive bubble between December 23 and 27, so they can mix indoors and outdoors.