County to move into Tier 3 from weekend as cases keep rising

GLOUCESTERSHIRE is among the areas which will move into coronavirus Tier 3 on Boxing Day.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced at Wednesday’s (December 23) Downing Street press conference the areas that will enter the second strictest tier at 12.01am on December 26.

Other areas moving into Tier 3 are Bristol, all of Somerset, Swindon, the Isle of Wight, the New Forest, Northamptonshire, Cheshire and Warrington.

It comes as the new variant of coronavirus spreads across the country. The Government says it could be 71 per cent more infectious than previous forms.

Mr Hancock says cases across the country have risen by 75 per cent over the past week and hospital admissions are at 1,909 a day, the highest figure since mid-april.

“Just as we have got a tiered system in place, we have discovered a new more contagious virus, a variant which is spreading at a dangerous rate,” Mr Hancock added.

Millions more people in England will be placed into lockdown.

Areas moving to the toughest Tier 4 - where there is a stay at home order - from Boxing Day are: Sussex, Oxfordshire, Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, those parts of Essex not yet in Tier 4, Waverley in Surrey and Hampshire - including Portsmouth and Southampton but with the exception of the New Forest.

Cornwall and Herefordshire move from Tier 1 to Tier 2.

The new moves mean Cheltenham Town and Gloucester City will not be able to have fans at their games on Boxing Day, while Forest Green Rovers and Gloucester Rugby will also have to play games behind closed doors and Cheltenham Racecourse is now unlikely to be able to welcome punters to the course on New Year’s Day.