some 2 million people in the northeast
of england
are facing even tougher restrictions
following a sharp rise in the number of
new cases
of coronavirus the health secretary matt
hancock announced that mixing between
households
in any indoor setting which people are
currently advised to avoid
will be made illegal from wednesday the
region has already been under
restrictions for the past 10 days
covering a wide area which includes
newcastle northumberland gateshead
north tyneside south tyneside sunderland
and county durham and the new measures
mean it would be
unlawful for example for people to meet
in places like pubs or restaurants
without anyone
out with anyone outside their own
household that's the crucial condition
so for the latest we can join our north
of england correspondent
fiona trott who's in newcastle tonight
that's right yes from wednesday you
could be fined at least
100 pounds it's tough for the people who
live here and it's tough for the local
economy too it was already struggling to
try to adjust to the curfew over the
past week
bars have had to close and even today
one manager told us he's had to make
people redundant
enjoying a drink after work and enjoying
it while they can
from wednesday jordan and his friend
will be banned from having a beer
together
for many in this city it's hard to
swallow
i'm torn i really am torn because we
want to try and get some sort as a
nation then fair enough however
it's if this keeps going on for a longer
period of time a lot more people are
going to suffer in the long run in the
short run
but at the same time it is hard and i do
understand that people do need that
social aspect of people's mental health
for my own mental health i do need that
complete understanding
their lives are changing yet again here
in newcastle and in six other council
areas
they were advised not to meet at venues
outside the home
from wednesday it's banned we will
introduce
legal restrictions on indoor mixing
between households in any setting
mr speaker we do not take these steps
lightly
but we must take them and take them now
this city makes over 300 million pounds
a year from the nighttime economy
it was struggling to adjust to a curfew
and the council says today's
announcement
came without warning this announcement
has been made without any notice
whatsoever
to either us as local authorities or to
our local police
that's deeply worrying when it comes to
making sure that we're all working
together here
financial support to help with
enforcement is set to be announced by
central government
people here say they will stick to the
rules but it's hard
i think it's a bit contradictory i think
you know like i've literally been to
work today and i've stood with every man
and his dog at work
literally like so close to them and i
can't go and stand in my dad's backyard
and it kind of makes
not that much sense to me people are
dying
so if it's worth sacrificing a couple of
nights in the pub
then i'm not really that fussed to be
honest
this city is famous for its nightlife
but all that's been put on hold
the challenge now is to keep people safe
and protect the local economy too
fiona trott bbc news newcastle
there needs to be an urgent review of
the 10 pm closure times for restaurants
and pubs
that's according to greater manchester's
mayor andy burnham he said the measure
had led to people gathering in homes
and that supermarkets were being packed
to the rafter selling drink for example
once the bars had closed downing street
says the policy in england will be kept
under review
as our health editor hugh pim reports
scenes like these in york on saturday
night have raised questions about the
new 10 p.m
closing time for pubs bars and
restaurants
[Music]
[Applause]
people gathered on the streets after
they had to leave local venues
there were crowds too in other cities
after the earlier closing time
here in central london
and here in liverpool and there have
been calls for the curfew to be reviewed
after reports of people gathering it off
licenses to buy alcohol
the big problem with it as far as i'm
concerned is it creates an incentive for
more social gatherings
in the home and what we're told by the
experts is that that's the big
reason the big place where
more transmission of the virus takes
place
but downing street said the measure
struck the right balance between
protecting the public
and allowing pubs and restaurants to
continue trading
there's also a debate on new measures
required to combat the virus
middlesbrough is not one of the
communities covered by extra
restrictions
but some feel they are now essential
we're probably
a day away from being certain we will go
to government
and ask them for more restrictions we
want to limit
subject to more info limit the ability
of people to visit
other people's homes three more areas in
wales
neath port tolbert torvine and the vale
of glamorgan have this evening joined
the list of those facing tougher rules
people can't meet other households
anywhere indoors
and aren't able to enter or leave the
areas without good reason
there are several parts of the north of
england now covered by restrictions
the highest case numbers according to
latest data are in burnley
with 270 per 100 000 population
noseley with 265 liverpool with 252
and newcastle with 246 per 100
000 london's highest infection rates are
a lot lower
with red bridge at 68 and barking and
dagenham with 58
per 100 000. london councils have now
been designated
areas of concern on a watch list drawn
up by public health officials
but some council leaders feel that the
published infection numbers
understate the true position
in the borough of hammersmith and fulham
they were running mobile pop-up testing
centers
but these had to stop when the units
were moved to other areas
now the council's concerned there are
rising numbers of undetected cases the
government keeps saying there's enough
testing for everybody
that isn't our experience here people
who want to get tests
can't get online to book them and as a
result we have people i'm sure of it
walking around our borough and all parts
of london who are carrying the virus
and potentially a danger to them to
other people and we just don't
know about it there are now calls from
some local authorities in the capital
for the government to impose the same
restrictions
already in place elsewhere in the
country hugh pim
bbc news well the prime minister has
said for months that local strategies
are the best way
to deal with local outbreaks of
coronavirus
but what is the latest evidence on how
effective they are our medical editor
fergus walsh has been examining
how well the strategy has worked so far
since the pandemic took hold
at first glance life may look back to
normal in leicester
but people here haven't been able to
meet inside each other's homes
since march unless they're part of a
support bubble
you can only see friends in outdoor
cafes parks
or other public spaces
leicester was the first place in the uk
to introduce
local restrictions at the end of june
after a sharp rise in cases
they were tough people were told to stay
at home and only travel
if it was vital non-essential shops
were shut for around a month public
health officials
started going door to door doing testing
it worked cases fell by half in the
coming weeks
and in early august restaurants pubs and
hairdressers reopened
about a month after the rest of england
and
in early september swimming pools and
gyms
reopened but in the past few weeks cases
have started to rise sharply again
there was a small increase in hospital
admissions in leicester in june but
mostly the trend has been downward
cases have stopped falling but are still
way below the peak in april very
concerned that things are going the
wrong way and that those case numbers we
definitely need
need to get back down i think to some
extent pleased at the moment that we're
still not seeing that result in hospital
admissions
um but fearful that that's going to come
and i think that's that's the key bit
for me is how do we protect
those that are most vulnerable to
admissions kophili
was the first local authority in wales
to be placed under extra measures
from the 8th of september people can't
enter or leave the county without a
reasonable excuse
and can't meet friends indoors early
indications are the restrictions are
working
with cases falling sharply across the uk
at least 16 million people are subject
to extra restrictions
that's just under one in four of the
total population
the uk restrictions are not yet as
drastic as those taken in france's
second city marseille
all restaurants and bars were ordered to
close at the weekend
following a surge in cases and hospital
admissions
businesses say it's a catastrophe the
dilemma
there and here is how to control kovid
without wrecking the economy ferguson
bbc news
with me is hugh pim our health editor
some very big questions tonight here in
two areas
we're talking about a local strategy
such as in the northeast of england
and the question about whether that kind
of thing could be
imposed elsewhere and then we're talking
about more widespread strategies such as
the
curfew on bars at 10 pm and whether
that's actually working
now can you shed light on those for us
well hugh there are many threads to this
there are
the debates on local restrictions with
these big moves in the northeast of
england
barring any form of household contact in
any indoor venue
that is now being looked at as a
possibility for the north west of
england with a particular focus on
merseyside and as we've heard you've got
council leaders calling for more
restrictions in their areas
i'm told with london despite calls for
intervention there
nothing probably will happen in the days
ahead the government of westminster will
look for more
data then you've got the national issue
of the curfew
on pubs bars and restaurants at 10 pm
the scenes at the weekend of people
gathering in crowds outside the mayor of
greater manchester andy burnham
now says he doesn't think that's working
on its own it needs a 9 p.m
bar on the sale of alcohol in off
licenses
the government though has said certainly
for england that it won't be further
reviewed
and of course westminster there's a
debate about the extent to which the
state should be intervening in people's
lives but
wherever that debate goes we've
certainly seen today there are a lot
more interventions and measures being
put into place
hugh once again many thanks cupim there
our health editor