West Yorkshire and Leeds to move into Tier 3 lockdown from Monday after local leaders demanded help to tackle killer bug

WEST Yorkshire will be placed under the toughest lockdown restrictions from Monday, after local leaders demanded extra help to tackle the virus.

The area, including Leeds, Huddersfield, and Bradford, will move into Tier Three - meaning pubs and bars will be closed with a ban on overnight stays outside of the home.

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Changes will come into effect from the beginning of next week, according to Councillor Judith Blake.

With the new restrictions, pubs and bars must shut unless they can operate as a restaurant serving "substantial" meals.

Casinos, bookmakers and gyms are also shut under Tier Three.

West Yorkshire residents are also advised to avoid travelling outside the area, unless for essential journeys, such as work or caring responsibilities.

NHS figures have shown the Yorkshire and Humber region has the fastest-growing COVID-19 rates in England.

The area is estimated to be home to 2.3 million people as the government promised a financial package of £59.3million to the region.

When West Yorkshire goes into tier three, 11 million people - nearly a fifth of all those living in England - will be under the tightest coronavirus restrictions.

TIER THREE

A statement from the Leaders of West Yorkshire Councils said they accepted the move into tier three "with great reluctance".

It said: "The virus spread is now at a critical juncture. Not only are infections rising in our region, particularly amongst the elderly, but we already have evidence that the NHS is starting to struggle to deliver essential elective care."

Bradford currently has the highest rates in the county, with 483.5 cases per 100,000 of the population.

There are more Covid patients currently in Leeds Hospitals than at the peak of the pandemic, it was reported earlier this week.

The Leeds Teaching Hospital Trust said the pressure on beds has become "far greater than in the first wave."

But Susan Hinchcliffe, leader of Bradford council and chair of the West Yorkshire combined authority, warned that "further economic restrictions" would be "damaging" for businesses and jobs.

This comes as 16 more areas in England are set to be plunged into tighter restrictions over the weekend, including in Oxford and the Midlands.

Huge areas from the Midlands, including Derby city, the whole of High Peak, Dudley and Staffordshire will move into the "high" Covid alert level.

Earlier today Oxford City Council confirmed it had been thrown into Tier 2 restrictions, even though infection rates were significantly lower at 137.1 cases per 100,000.

Birmingham and the West Midlands are also expected to be thrown into the highest Covid alert level.

City council leader Ian Ward said officials "have to do something more" to stem increasing infections - and the region will fall under the toughest tier unless new cases slow.

There are more than 300 patients with coronavirus in hospital beds at University Hospitals Birmingham.

Of that number, 34 are fighting for life in intensive care.

VIRUS SLOWDOWN

WHO special envoy Professor David Nabarro today said lockdowns in the North have slowed the spread of the virus.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “This virus has been picking up extraordinary energy over the last three or four weeks and it is indeed surprising just how ferocious the current surges have become.”

Prof Nabarro said the UK has “apparently been able to slow the spread in some parts of the North of the country through very effective local action”.

“What that’s led to is a sort of levelling up and it seems that southern parts of the UK are speeding up,” he said.

But Professor Paul Elliott, director of the React programme at Imperial from the School of Public Health, said more needs to be done to reduce “very high” levels of Covid-19 in the region.

“I think we have to do something more now to really try and certainly reduce the very high levels that we are seeing in parts of the north of the country,” he told BBC Breakfast.

Prof Carl Heneghan, from Oxford University, told MailOnline the idea of a second nationwide shutdown was "incredibly harmful".

"Lockdown should be a last resort to protect the NHS. People calling for it need to realise it is a blunt tool that will just kick the can down the road," he said.

"We need to get the message out now that this is not going away, it's about managing Covid-19's impact."

Prof Heneghan was speaking out after claims Sage scientists have said all of England will be plunged into more severe Tier 3 restrictions by mid-December - throwing Christmas plans into chaos.

Their model suggests the second wave will be more deadly than the first, with a "lower but longer peak".

It means while deaths might not reach the sharp highs of April, we could see around 500 deaths a day for a longer period of time.