All the UK towns and cities on the brink of tier 3 lockdown

The government is undertaking a series of talks with regional leaders this week (Picture: PA)

The government’s new tier system has already seen regions across England thrown into strict coroanvirus measures at short notice. Infection rates and deaths linked to the virus have been rising across the UK as a whole and areas have now been split up into medium, high or very high alert levels in response. Lancashire and the Liverpool City Region are currently the only areas with tier three restrictions enforced. The rules prevent anyone in those areas from meeting up with people outside their household or support bubble across any settings, outside or indoors. Pubs, bars and restaurants must also close, but schools and universities can remain open. People can also still travel to their jobs if they can’t work from home. So which areas are heading into tier three next? Visit our live blog for the latest updates Coronavirus news live.

Manchester will be plunged into lockdown on Friday (Picture: PA)

Greater Manchester On Tuesday it was confirmed that Greater Manchester would be going into tier three from 00.01 on Friday, despite repeated concerns over financial support from Mayor Andy Burnham. The restrictions will be imposed across Bury, Rochdale, Oldham, Tameside, Stockport, Manchester, Trafford, Salford, Wigan and Bolton. In the week ending October 15, five of these boroughs, Wigan, Salford, Manchester, Oldham and Rochdale, each recorded more than 400 cases of coronavirus per 100,000 people. The government has said the region will get £22,000,000 in financial support, but Burnham has repeatedly stated that local leaders will need at least £65,000,000 to protect people when businesses are forced to close.

Restrictions are being tightened in South Yorkshire following talks this week (Picture: AFP)

Today it was confirmed that South Yorkshire will enter tier three after midnight on Friday. All local authority areas in Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster and Barnsley will face the new measures. The region will receive £41,000,000 of government support, with £11,000,000 dedicated to enhanced test and trace enforcement in the area. Sheffield Mayor Dan Jarvis said today: ‘While infection rates vary across South Yorkshire, collective action was the only practical choice to keep everyone in our region safe. ‘If restrictions are effective, individual local authorities will be able to move to lower alert levels as soon as it is safe to do so, in consultation with fellow local leaders, myself and national government.

Nottingham has the second highest infection rate in England (Picture: PA)

Nottinghamshire There are currently no confirmed plans to move Nottinghamshire into tier three – but on Tuesday, the Health Secretary said he would be talking to leaders in the region this week. Matt Hancock told the Commons that the number of infections in Nottingham and across the county were ‘worrying’. He went on: ‘Nottinghamshire went into tier two last week and talks are ongoing about what more might be needed. Heat map shows where infections are surging as tier 3 lockdowns hit UK ‘I praise the people of Nottinghamshire for what they’re doing to try to slow the spread of this virus.

It may be that more needs to be done, it will be driven entirely by the data and working closely with the local authorities.’ Today Nottingham City Council leader David Mellen said talks about new restrictions had not yet begun, but emphasised he would do what was needed to ‘protect the population’. Nottingham currently has the second highest infection rate in England, with 632.6 cases of the virus per 100,000 people. Areas such as Broxtowe, Gedling and Rushcliffe have more than 300 cases per 100,000. However, cases are not as high in other parts of Nottinghamshire, which would also experience the same restrictions. Ashfield has just over 200 cases per 100,000, while Mansfield, Bassetlaw, and Nerwark and Sherwood all have less than 190 per 100,000.

 

 

The North East has so-far avoided going into tier three (Picture: PA)

The North East The North East, including Northumberland, Newcastle, South and North Tyneside, Gateshead, Sunderland and County Durham, has so far avoided moving into tier three, despite persistent concerns about infection rates in the region. Speaking to the Commons, Hancock also stated that discussions would be taking place with North East and Teesside leaders this week – but this has since been disputed by the mayor of Tees Valley. Ben Houchen said he had been reassured there were no plans to enforce the toughest restrictions over the region.

He went on: ‘I spoke to Matt Hancock’s team and I was pleased that they confirmed what local leaders were told on Friday – that there are no imminent plans to move our area to tier three.’ The latest figures show that case rates have fallen over the past week in five out of seven North East councils. Newcastle’s new infections dropped from 545 per 100,000 in the week to October 8 to 348 in the seven days to October 15. In the same period, Gateshead’s cases fell from 275 to 237, Northumberland’s from 195 to 171, North Tyneside’s from 288 to 208 and South Tyneside’s from 276 to 229.

Tier three prevents people from visiting others outside their households or support bubbles (Picture: Getty Images)

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire is currently in tier one, but was revealed to have experienced a sharp rise in coronavirus cases this week. As of Tuesday, the region has recorded 295 deaths and 5,223 cases of the virus since the pandemic began. Lincoln has the highest infection rate in the county, with 152.1 cases per 100,000 people, followed by South Kesteven with 108.8 and Boston with 108.3. East Lindsey, North Kesteven, South Holland and West Lindsey each have less than 100 cases per 100,000 people. . The government has confirmed that there are planned talks over whether the county should be placed in tier three, particularly with its close proximity to Nottinghamshire.

There were 692 new infections in Warrington in the week ending October 16 (Picture: Reuters)

Cheshire This week Hancock specifically referred to Cheshire, as he declared that the government needed to act in places where coronavirus cases are rising. Warrington, Cheshire West and Chester, and Cheshire East are all currently in tier two. Warrington has 340.9 coronavirus cases per 100,000 people, putting it in the top 35 worst-hit areas in the country. There were 692 new infections in the town in the week ending October 16. Hancock said: ‘The critical thing though is for us all to recognise that in places like Warrington and the surrounding area, where the number of cases is going up – and the number of cases among the over 60s is going up, which is particularly worrying – we do need to act, and to act together if at all possible.’ Council leaders in Warrington have invited the government to discuss what deals would be available if the area moves to tier three. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. For more stories like this, check our news page.

Source:metro.co.uk/2020/10/21