Tier 4 areas map: Full list of places under Boxing Day lockdown revealed

MILLIONS of Britons will wake up in Tier 4 on Boxing Day morning to control the spread of the new coronavirus mutation.

The Health Secretary announced this afternoon more of the east and south east of England will enter the toughest restrictions, which bans Christmas Day bubbles.

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Under the Tier 4 rules - which were only created at the weekend - people cannot stay overnight at someone elses house, mix with other households, or travel outside their area.

All non-essential shops have to shut, alongside pubs, restaurants and cafes which would have already closed under Tier 3 measures.

Speaking at a Downing Street press conference, Matt Hancock said Tier 3 was not enough to control rapidly growing cases in England caused by this new strain, called VUI2020/01.

And he dashed hopes of moving any local authority down a tier - with the whole of England now in Tier 2 or above, other than the 2,000 residents of Isle of Scilly, which is in Tier 1.

Mr Hancock said: “From 00.01 on Boxing Day 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 will all be escalated to Tier 4."

It means almost half - 43 per cent - of the England population are now under Tier 4.

Six million people will join the 18 million who were suddenly put into the new Tier 4 level on Sunday, when the PM learned the new strain is fuelling a surge in cases.

Today's news comes as a huge blow considering Mr Hancock said the "old variant" was being controlled by the three-tier system, especially in the north.

“Just as we had got a tiered system in place that was able to control this virus we have discovered a new, more contagious virus – a variant that is spreading at a dangerous rate," he said.

“We know that Tier 3 is not enough to control the new variant. This is not our hypothesis, it is a fact and we have seen it on the ground," he said.

“We’ve seen case rates rise in some of the places close to where the current Tier 4 restrictions are in places like East Anglia where we are seeing a significant number of the new variant and we’ve seen case rates rise sharply.

“It is therefore necessary to put more of the East and South East of England into Tier 4.

“We’re also taking action in parts of the South West where there are some early signs of the new variant and where cases are rising.”

Cornwall's freedom came to a end as Mr Hancock revealed it would be moved up to Tier 2, along with Herefordshire, which has only been in Tier 1 for a few days.

Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset including the North Somerset council area, Swindon, the Isle of Wight, the New Forest and Northamptonshire as well as Cheshire and Warrington will all be escalated to Tier 3.

The new variant of the virus is focused in the South East and East of England, but has spread to all corners of the UK.

The Tier review was due to be reviewed on December 30, but fears the mutant strain is now “everywhere” meant it was brought forward.

Questions remain over whether the whole of the UK will be slapped with the Tier 4 restrictions - or "lockdown" - to curb the outbreak.

Some experts have argued this should be in place already, given that the variant is spread 70 per cent more easily.

Asked why the whole country has not been put into full lockdown, Mr Hancock replied: “The new variant is highly concentrated and the stay-at-home rule in the east, the south east and London is aimed at keeping this new variant from spreading across the country.

“That’s why we’ve taken the approach that we have in terms of the tiering and expanding the number of areas that are in Tier 4.”

It comes after the communities Secretary Robert Jenrick admitted this morning “it may be necessary to take further action” to curb rising case numbers.

Mr Jenrick told Sky News: “We keep this under review, we are constantly hearing from our scientific advisers about what we should do.”

The new variant is “very concerning” and is “prevalent probably in most regions of the country”, he said.

In a separate No10 briefing Monday, the Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said it was likely that measures would "need to be increased" outside of current Tier 4 regions.

In a clear indication millions of Brits should prepare for the toughest of restrictions, Sir Patrick said: "[The strain is] more transmissible, we've absolutely got to make sure we've got the right level of restrictions in place.

"I think it is likely that this will grow in numbers of the variant across the country, and I think its likely therefore that measures are going to need to be increased in some places, not reduced."

"Worrying" rise in new Tier 4 areas

The Health Secretary gave the grave warning that the new variant was spreading at a “dangerous rate”.

On the back of his announcement, the leader of Essex County Council, Conservative councillor David Finch, said moving the remaining areas of the county into Tier 4 restrictions from Boxing Day “only serves to highlight the severity of the situation we are currently in”.

“While these latest restrictions will have a significant impact on residents and businesses in those areas, they are unfortunately necessary,” he said.

The leader of East Sussex County Council, Conservative councillor Keith Glazier, described the increase in Covid-19 cases as “worrying” as Tier 4 restrictions were announced for the area.

“After months of low infection rates across East Sussex, Covid-19 cases in every district and borough have more than doubled, and in some cases trebled, over a seven-day period, with more than 400 people now testing positive every day across the county,” he said.

“We all need to act now as if we carry the virus: keep social contact to an absolute minimum and at the first sign of symptoms, no matter how mild, self-isolate and book a test."

Conservative councillor Matthew Hicks, leader of Suffolk County Council, said news the county will be moved from Tier 2 to Tier 4 restrictions on Boxing Day “comes as no surprise”.

Suffolk’s current rate is 188 Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people and two weeks ago it stood at 67 per 100,000 people, the authority said.

Green Party and Brighton Pavilion MP Caroline Lucas tweeted that Tier 4 "will cause so much pain" but "it's the right thing to do"

Herefordshire’s acting public health director Dr Rebecca Howell-Jones asked people not to socialise over Christmas if they are entering the area, which is in Tier 2.

She said: “We are extremely concerned about the rapid increase in the number of cases across the country and the recent rise we have seen in Herefordshire.

“We know this decision by government has not been taken lightly, but it is vital that action is taken quickly to help suppress transmission of the virus.”

“We are asking anyone who has travelled to Herefordshire from a Tier 4 area or Wales to behave as though they have the virus and self-isolate for 10 days.

“Please do not socialise over the Christmas period.”

'THIS WILL SPREAD MORE'

After revealing the new strain is "everywhere", Sir Patrick said this week: "I think it is a case that this will spread more."

The Covid-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) consortium, which alerted officials to the new strain, sampled cases around the UK and found the variant is also in the South West, Midlands and North of England – areas that are under Tier 2 and 3 restrictions.

Already experts at the Office for National Statistics had made estimates the strain accounts for around 30 per cent of new cases in England, 28 per cent in Wales, and 14 per cent in Scotland.

It followed the Health Secretary Matt Hancock warning on Sunday the new strain was "out of control", while suggesting tougher restrictions would be needed to manage it until the spring.

Several other parts of the country appear at risk of Tier 4 given they have infection rates of concerning levels.

Burnley, in Lancashire, has the highest Tier 3 infection rate, at 447 cases per 100,000 in the week to December 18.

It's four times higher than Gosport, in Hampshire, which has the lowest cases of all Tier 4 areas, at just 165 per 100,000.

Boston and Lincoln, both in Lincolnshire and under Tier 3, each have around 400 cases per 100,000 people.

Infection rates are just one measure the Government consider for tier levels. They also look at NHS capacity and how cases have changed.

Birmingham has escaped Tier 4 restrictions, after speculation leaders there were in discussions to move the city up a level.

Soaring cases

Data shows cases are soaring across these parts of the country, with nine areas reporting more than 1,000 new cases per 100,000 people every seven days.

This includes six authorities in Essex - the highest case rate in England is in Thurrock, where cases per 100,000 people have doubled in just one week.

The authority recorded 2,192 new cases in the seven days to December 18 - the equivalent of 1,257 cases per 100,000 people. This is up from 512 in the seven days to December 11.

Infections have doubled in Havering, the second Covid hotspot in England, and Redbridge - both in London.

Havering's cases are now 1,190 per 100,000, up from 597, while Redbridge has 1,041, up from 481.

Overall 90 per cent of England has seen a rise in infection rates in the most recent week, to December 17.

Only 30 of the 315 areas have seen cases fall, making up 10 per cent, and just one region remains unchanged.