six million more people in england will
now be moving into tier four coveted
restrictions from
boxing day this afternoon the health
secretary for england matt hancock
said it was vital the government act
saying cases were continuing to rise at
what he called a dangerous rate
hospital admissions are now at their
highest level since
mid-april so tier four restrictions will
be extended to sussex oxfordshire
suffolk norfolk
and cambridgeshire the rest of essex
waverly in surrey and hampshire
with the exception of the new forest
in tier 4 you have to stay at home
unless you're traveling to work or for
education
you can meet one other person in an open
public space
non-essential shops were closed along
with personal services such as gyms
beauty salons and hairdressers
no one should enter or leave a tier 4
area other areas are also moving up a
tier from saturday bristol
gloucestershire somerset swindon the
isle of wight
the new forest and northamptonshire as
well as cheshire and warrington will be
moved to tier three
cornwall and herefordshire will move
into tier two
there were no changes to christmas
restrictions for areas in tiers
one to three in england so-called
christmas bubbles are only allowed on
christmas day the advice is to remain a
local
here's our political correspondent leila
nathu
sign will soon be turned tighter
restrictions are on their way in norfolk
and elsewhere in the east and southeast
of england
tracy owns a gift shop in halt and
another in neighboring suffolk
within days both have to close we fully
appreciate the fact that these measures
have got to be put in place because it's
spiraling out of control now in
our areas but we do feel as usual the
government's left
incredibly late to make the decision not
the gift the government
wanted to give having already scaled
back plans to allow christmas mixing
but ministers say the new strain of the
virus has forced their hand
we have learned that when it comes to
being a matter of
when not if we take action it is better
to act
sooner and i know that some of these
decisions are tough
and i believe that everybody will do
what is needed
to keep themselves and others safe
especially this christmas and i know
from the bottom of my heart that there
are brighter skies ahead
you've just said when it comes to
coronavirus that it's better to act
sooner but the prime minister said on
saturday that the new strain was present
across the country your chief scientific
advisor said on monday that it wasn't
possible
to stop it from spreading beyond the
south east haven't you wasted
valuable time in trying to get ahead
of the new strain of the virus the whole
basis of the tiered system
is to take a proportionate approach to
the areas where we need
very firm action and other areas where
we
clearly need restrictions
added to that of course is everybody's
personal responsibility
labour say businesses in areas already
locked down are bearing a heavy burden
with all of the confusion around
christmas and worries about what will
happen in the
new year too we need to see clearer and
firmer leadership from the prime
minister
putting the health measures but also the
economic measures
in place too so that we save lives and
protect people's jobs
the government insists it's confident
that the system of tiered restrictions
in england
is now strong enough to contain the new
strain of the virus
that's spreading quicker while the
vaccine is being rolled out
almost half of the country's population
will soon be in the toughest tier
ministers say they don't want another
national lockdown but are keeping
everything under review
we've been here before and they had to
change course
the cheer of christmas is muted this
year and for millions
facing even stricter rules boxing day
will bring a further test of resolve
and laila joins me now uh live from
downing street leila if matt hancock
says it's as bad as it is i wonder just
how confident he can be that these
latest measures
are going to be enough well george i
think certainly the hope in government
is that people will stick to those
stay-at-home rules
in the toughest tier so that this new
variant of the virus can be contained
and they can keep tier iv the toughest
tier
limited in its scope there are already
scientific voices questioning whether
things need to get tougher
but remember there is a chunk of tory
mps who are angry
already even the tier three restrictions
and the impact
on the economy so clearly the feeling in
government is they think they are trying
to strike a balance they think they can
track
this new variant spreading across the
country and at the moment they think
it's highly concentrated
in the south east and east of england
hence the action
today now they are sticking with this
patchwork regional arrangement for now
because they think that tier three
is working against the original variant
of the virus
clearly schools universities have broken
up over christmas so that will help in
terms of transmission
but i think there's a bit of a waiting
game going on to see the impact
of even the limited christmas mixing
that is allowed
now today's announcement was an
unscheduled
moving of areas between tears there is
another planned review
in a week's time the feeling in
government is that this is a
proportional
response but a further short notice
tightening of restrictions across
different parts of the country
and national restrictions are certainly
not being ruled out
all right thank you very much