These areas of England are moving into Tier 4 - and what is happening in the rest of the country

Speaking to the House of Commons today (30 Dec), Health Secretary Matt Hancock has announced that a further 20 million people living in England will be placed under the strict Covid-19 measures of Tier 4 from midnight, and millions more will be placed into Tier 3.

Hancock said, “Sharply rising cases and the hospitalisations that follow demonstrate the need to act where the virus is spreading.

“Unfortunately, this new variant is now spreading across most of England and cases are doubling fast.

“And I know that Tier 3 and 4 measures place a significant burden on people, and especially on businesses affected, but I am afraid it is absolutely necessary because of the number of cases that we’ve seen.”

The number of people in hospital with the virus has now bypassed the number of those hospitalised during the peak in April.

Which areas are moving into Tier 4?

As more areas around the country move into Tier 4, these restrictions will now extend to 75 per cent of England.

The following locations which will be moving into Tier 4:

  • Leicester City
  • Leicester (Oadby and Wigston, Harborough, Hinckley and Bosworth, Charnwood, North West Leicestershire, Melton)
  • Lincolnshire City (City of Lincoln, Boston, South Kesteven, West Lindsey, North Kesteven, South Holland, East Lindsey)
  • Northamptonshire (Corby, Daventry, East Northamptonshire, Kettering, Northampton, South Northamptonshire, Wellingborough)
  • Derby and Derbyshire (Derby, Amber Valley, South Derbyshire, Bolsover, North East Derbyshire, Chesterfield, Erewash, Derbyshire Dales, High Peak)
  • Nottingham and Nottinghamshire (Gedling, Ashfield, Mansfield, Rushcliffe, Bassetlaw, Newark and Sherwood, Nottinghamshire, Broxtowe)
  • Birmingham and Black Country (Dudley, Birmingham, Sandwell, Walsall, Wolverhampton)
  • Coventry
  • Solihull
  • Warwickshire (Rugby, Nuneaton and Bedworth, Warwick, North Warwickshire, Stratford-upon-Avon)
  • Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent (East Staffordshire, Stafford, South Staffordshire, Cannock Chase, Lichfield, Staffordshire Moorlands, Newcastle under Lyme, Tamworth, Stoke-on-Trent)
  • Lancashire (Burnley, Pendle, Blackburn with Darwen, Ribble Valley, Blackpool, Preston, Hyndburn, Chorley, Fylde, Lancaster, Rossendale, South Ribble, West Lancashire, Wyre)
  • Cheshire and Warrington (Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Warrington)
  • Cumbria (Eden, Carlisle, South Lakeland, Barrow-in-Furness, Copeland, Allerdale)
  • Great Manchester (Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan)
  • Tees Valley (Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, Stockton-on-Tees)
  • North East (County Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, North Tyneside, Northumberland, South Tyneside, Sunderland)
  • Gloucestershire (Gloucester, Forest of Dean, Cotswolds, Tewkesbury, Stroud, Cheltenham)
  • Somerset Council (Mendip, Sedgemoor, Somerset West and Taunton, South Somerset)
  • Swindon
  • Bournemouth, Christchurch and Pool
  • Isle of Wight
  • New Forest

Which areas are moving into Tier 3?

Some areas across England will move into Tier 3.

These are the local authority areas which will move into Tier 3:

  • Rutland
  • Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin
  • Worcestershire (Bromsgrove, Malvern Hills, Redditch, Worcester, Wychavon, Wyre Forest)
  • Herefordshire
  • Liverpool City Region (Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, Wirral, St Helens)
  • York & North Yorkshire (Scarborough, Hambleton, Richmondshire, Selby, Craven, Ryedale, Harrogate, City of York)
  • Bath and North East Somerset
  • Devon, Plymouth, Torbay (East Devon, Exeter, Mid Devon, North Devon, South Hams, Teignbridge, Torridge, West Devon, Plymouth, Torbay)
  • Cornwall
  • Dorset
  • Wiltshire

Are any areas moving down a tier?

No areas across England will be moving down a tier. Instead, locations will either remain in the same tier, or will be placed in a higher tier.

No area will be in Tier 2, and only the 2,000 people living on the Isles of Scilly will be in Tier 1, also known as the ‘medium’ alert.

When will the new rules take effect?

The new tier changes will be implemented from 12:01am UK time on Thursday 31 December 2020.