How often will restriction tiers be reviewed?
T h e G ove r n m e nt h a s a nnounced which tiers each part of the UK will enter after the national lockdown ends on Wednesday, December 2 – but when will it be reviewed and how?
The majority of the north of England will be put under the new stricter Tier 3 restrictions whereby pubs and restaurants must stay closed, but shops can open.
"The Government has said it will review the tiers in a fortnight and will be kept “regularly under review after that”.
Health Secretary, Matt Hancock told the Commons onNovember26:“Themajority of England will be in Tier 2, but a significant number of areas, I’m afraid, need to be in Tier 3 to bring case rates done.
“We’ll review the measures in a fortnight and keep them regularly under review after that.”
Tier levels are being decided by central government based on five factors, which include:
Infection rate overall. Infection rate among the over 60s.
Rate at which cases are rising or falling.
NHS pressure in the local area.
Positive test rate (as a percentage of all tests carried out).
Prime Minister Boris Johnson previously explained: “The criteria we use to decide who went into which tier would be case detection rates in all groups, case detection rates in the over-60s, the rate at which cases are rising or falling, positivity rates and pressure on the NHS.”
“So those are some of the criteria that we will use.”
In the North East and Yorkshire, the latest R rate – which shows how quickly coronavirus is spreading – is estimated to be between 1.0-1.1, which is the same as the England-wide estimate.