Most of England banned from mixing indoors ‘until Easter’
Most people in England will be banned from seeing family and friends from other households indoors until Easter, according to reports.
Senior Government sources told the Daily Mail it was ‘unrealistic’ to expect areas in tiers two and three to be eased into tier one before spring.
Most of the country – 99% – will live under tier two and three restrictions from December 2, after only three places were put into tier one.
It comes after England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty slapped down Boris Johnson’s suggestion that ‘your tier is not your destiny’ during a press conference on Thursday.
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The new, tougher tier system was revealed on Thursday as part of the prime minister’s winter plan. The Tory leader said: ‘Together we have prevented our NHS from being overwhelmed.
‘If we ease off now, we risk losing control of this virus all over again … forcing us back into a new year national lockdown with all the damage that would mean.’
Reports that the tier system will last well into next year are likely to devastate business owners in the hospitality sector. From December 2, restaurants and pubs in tier two must close at 11pm, while those in tier three must shut completely, although they are permitted to make sales by takeaway or delivery service.
Mr Johnson is facing the threat of a backbench revolt, with dozens of Tory MPs refusing to back the new measures without ‘extensive evidence’ that the benefits will outweigh the harm done to the economy.
It is rumoured that as many as 70 Tory MPs could vote against the tougher tier system. MPs are set to vote on the new measures on Tuesday.
In an attempt to quell a backbench rebellion, Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove warned last night that all hospitals in England could be overwhelmed by Covid-19 if tighter restrictions are not put in place.
Ministers have suggested rural areas could be ‘decoupled’ from hard-hit nearby places that have dragged them into tougher tiers, according to the Telegraph.
William Wragg, who is chairman of the Commons public administration committee, told the Mail: ‘My fear is the tiers are going to become like a purgatory with no escape.
‘It is vital there is a clear path for areas to emerge from tighter tiered restrictions. We cannot have families, communities and businesses left in limbo.’
The PM has acknowledged people’s ‘frustrations’ with the tier system, especially those living in areas placed into tier 2, despite low infection rates.
However, he added: ‘The difficulty is that if you did it any other way, first of all you’d divide the country up into loads and loads of very complicated subdivisions – there has got to be some simplicity and clarity in the way we do this.’
‘The second problem is that, alas, our experience is that when a high-incidence area is quite close to a low-incidence area, unless you beat the problem in the high-incidence area, the low-incidence area I’m afraid starts to catch up.’
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