the prime minister is imposing a new
coronavirus alert system on england to
try to stop the virus spiraling out of
control
the three-tier system will replace
current local lockdowns and comes into
force
on wednesday most of england will be
under tier 1 restrictions places at
medium level of risk
in these areas current national rules
will continue the rule of 6
and the 10 pm curfew for pubs bars and
restaurants
next is tier 2 areas at high risk
there'll be no household mixing indoors
anywhere
but the rule of six still applies
outdoors tier two is for parts of the
northwest yorkshire the northeast the
midlands already under local lockdown
but today the whole of nottinghamshire
and south yorkshire parts of cheshire
and a small area of the peak district
are among new areas put into tier two
restrictions
the highest level is tier three places
at very high risk there'll be no mixing
of households anywhere indoors or in
private gardens
pubs and bars will be closed unless they
serve what's been called
a substantial meal liverpool city region
is the first to be placed under tier 3
restrictions
in the rest of the uk a decision will be
made on new lockdown measures in wales
in the next few days
in northern ireland health officials are
calling for decisive action
and in scotland nicola sturgeon says she
will draw up her
own tiered framework towards the end of
the month here's our political editor
laura koonsberg
stand by we cannot see clearly
what is ahead but the prime minister is
reluctantly
marking the way to a tighter phase
the leg turns back in their place
despite repeated rule changes
coronavirus is not in retreat the number
of cases has gone up four times
in four weeks and it's once again
spreading among the elderly and
vulnerable these figures are flashing at
us like
dashboard warnings in a passenger jet
and we must act now we are today
simplifying standardizing and in some
places
toughening local rules in england by
introducing three levels
of copied alert only the million and a
half or so people
in the liverpool city region will be in
the toughest category
but in england more than four million
people face extra limits from this week
no one wants to impose these kinds at
least of all me
wants to impose these kinds of
restrictions uh erosions
of our personal liberty but i'm as
convinced
as i've ever been that the british
people have the resolve
to beat this virus and that together we
will do
just that so liverpool's pubs will be
shut by the time it's sarah's actual
birthday later this week
the motto said wedding business hasn't
had a job for six months
so she's taking on extra shifts as a
nurse but like many they're worried
about paying the bills and protecting
their family too
i worry about my kids as well not being
able to socialize and go out and see
their family and friends so
yeah it has a huge impact where
businesses are forced to close
the treasury will pay some of the wages
but only two thirds from the start of
next month
rebecca owns the bar and worries it's
not enough a lot of our staff they only
do
17 hours a week so if they're only going
to be getting paid 63
of that they're not going to be able to
afford to live
but as cases rise could we be stuck in a
painful holding pattern
prime minister you've said many times
you want to avoid another national
lockdown
but it seems every week you introduce
extra rules and cases still
rise are you just delaying the
inevitable i
really hope that we won't have to go
into back into anything like a national
lockdown of the kind that we did in
march and
and april we could go for now for a for
a
a national lockdown again i think many
people would think that was
uh extreme and uh and it would do a
great deal of
uh extra uh harm to our economy
professor woodsy are you confident
what's being announced now
is really enough to slow the spread of
the disease
i am not confident and nor is anybody
confident
that the tier 3 proposals
for the highest rates uh if we did the
absolute base case
and nothing more would be enough to get
on top of it and that is why there's a
lot of flexibility
not exactly a ringing endorsement
and westminster wants local leaders to
make some of the toughest calls
here in the west midlands many are
unhappy about how the government made
its decisions
the tory leader cross that mixing with
other households
has been limited here i think it is very
disappointing
it's my view not the right decision both
for the
health and indeed the livelihoods of
citizens across the west midlands
and quite simply there's very very
little evidence that locations like this
pass on the disease rules vary still in
wales in northern ireland but scotland's
already closed many pubs
we will be looking to align as closely
as possible
with the other uk nations i think it is
important and it makes sense to try to
do that
labor does back the approach but not how
the job's being done
i'm now deeply skeptical that the
government has actually got a plan
to get control of this virus but it
increasingly feels like the prime
minister
is several steps behind the curve the
threat from this pandemic
is sadly familiar but the political
climate's so different
rather than step confidently forward
this place feels riven with doubt
our political officer laura kinsburg
joins us now and that warning laura from
professor witte was notable that even
the toughest measures
may not be enough it really was sophie
you know professor woody has become
known for his candor speaking very
plainly at these press conferences
but it was very striking to to hear him
say so boldly
that even the toughest set of
restrictions that the national
government is willing to put forward at
the moment won't be enough
unless they are accompanied by a layer
of extra restrictions decided on by
local public health leaders around the
country
less surprising that might be however
when about an hour after the press
conference concluded
the government scientific committee he
and all the other experts that boris
johnson consults
published a set of recommendations that
they agreed on the 21st of september
that argued right then for a much more
extensive
national program of measures to be taken
at that point
if there was to be a chance of slowing
down the pandemic and really getting a
handle on the disease
now downing street tonight saying
they've never pretended there are easy
decisions here
is a constant balance of dilemma between
how
not to hurt the economy and how not to
hurt people's health
but i think that publication from sage
tonight really reminds us
just how different the opinion how
different the opinions can be
on what really the right course of
action is here and laura there are
questions tonight as well over how much
support the prime minister is actually
getting
on these new measures from regional
leaders in northern england well that's
right
again it was interesting to hear the
prime minister lavish praise on the
leader of liverpool city region
steve rotherham a former labour mp who's
the mayor in that part of the country
he's the only one so far who has been
willing to agree with the government's
new set of tough restrictions
except almost as soon as boris johnson
had finished lavishing praise on him
he was out there online saying actually
the restrictions had been
imposed on him rather than anything that
had been agreed with the government
now let's face it local mayors are
politicians too there are of course
agendas on all sides here but it's
interesting today that we've seen
downing streets try to shift some of the
power
some of the responsibility onto leaders
around the country
they've been tensions between the two
all the way through this
and now seven months into this pandemic
it could be
one of the shifting contours of this
that changes our politics for good
laura thank you well it is the liverpool
city region that will have the toughest
tier three restrictions imposed
from wednesday our special correspondent
ed thomas is there
yes sophie this place has closed its
doors now it's after 10
but by wednesday there will be many
places across this liverpool city region
that will be closing their doors for the
long haul
and there is a weariness here now this
is a place that has already experienced
10 days of tough restrictions now people
here are told
they've been placed into the highest
level yes to bring cases down yes
to save lives as an acceptance here that
that
needs to happen but speak to some people
in hospitality night
and they're asking the question why why
the liverpool city region has to close
its pubs when you just go
down the road to greater manchester with
high coronavirus cases
their pubs are remaining open
and crucial some days the news is hard
to take
so we're giving local authorities across
the strictest coronavirus rules
in the liverpool city region we'll move
to the very high
and there's no hope i don't think
because there's no because you don't
know the end
avoid household mixing pups bars to
close
i think a lot of people panicking you
know food banks are the big thing in the
city
because of a lot of this between
ourselves everything that i love and i
care about
the same as the theatre industry the
events industry has been shipped from me
it's just another level of confusion
danny owns several bars
he employs hundreds all we've done is
put protection in after protection and
to try and
put an offer that the government are
happy with
and it's just never enough
every day is just fighting another fire
and
trying to protect as many jobs as
possible can you protect them all what's
the reality
it is now
and not just pubs gyms are to close too
after the first lockdown jonathan's
business is on the edge
i'm scared um this is our source of
income
we've recently just had a child um you
know without this business we've got no
source of income
i worry that if there is another
lockdown it could be catastrophic and it
could end our business
so what next for james a freelance
personal trainer
he didn't qualify for furlough last time
and we came up to it yesterday i was
like
it's like i was back in march what's at
stake for you here everything
my whole income my whole job and efforts
on the land so
what do you stand to lose everything
really me wage
be live you heard everything i've
trained for i suffer from depression
anyway so
for me it is a big a big deal to know
that i don't really have that stability
coming in
liverpool is home to some of the most
deprived areas in the uk
on top of everyday struggles
there's real fear over this rising
coronavirus cases
and we won't be leaving the house we'll
be staying inside as far as we're
concerned if it's a tier three lockdown
it should be quite
obvious that you shouldn't be outside
a few doors down 90 year old hilda at
risk
living alone my head is on the news
i get that depressed to turn over really
yes can you believe this is happening in
this country i can't i can't
you don't know when it's gonna end and
that's the worst thing and that's the
worst thing yeah
i worry about the young ones not with
people my
i wonder more about the young ones how
long will these new restrictions last
one month or six people here have been
told
it's down to them to bring the virus
numbers down at thomas bbc news
liverpool