Scilly isles stand alone in Tier 1

THE Isles of Scilly will be the only place across the UK to see in the new year in Tier 1.

Following Health Secretary Matt Hancock’s announcement on Wednesday, Cornwall has been moved into Tier 2 of the Covid-19 restrictions starting, today, Boxing Day.

The county will join neighbouring Devon in Tier 2, which leaves the Isles of Scilly as the only part of the UK still in Tier 1 of the restrictions as we head into New Year’s Eve.

Despite the country’s first case of coronavirus being recorded much earlier this year, the Isles of Scilly had its first recorded case right at the end of September.

It comes as it was also announced by the Health Secretary that more of the east and south east of England will enter the toughest Tier 4 lockdown, which came into effect today.

The reproduction number, or R value, of coronavirus transmission across the South West has also risen, the latest government data suggests.

Figures show that the current R rate for the South West is now between 1.0 and 1.2, with a growth rate of between +1 to +4.

The increase follows after data, released earlier this month, on December, 11, showed that the R rate for the South West was between 0.8 and 1.0.

The growth rate, which estimates how quickly the number of infections is changing day by day, is between +2 to +5 for the UK as a whole.

Positive cases of Covid-19 are increasing sharply in parts of the UK, with around one in 60 people now testing positive in Wales and one in 85 in England, figures suggest.

Several countries around the world are restricting travel from Britain amid concerns about new strains of coronavirus.