Coronavirus: Greater Manchester put on ‘Tier 2’ lockdown

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Coronavirus: Greater Manchester put on ‘Tier 2’ lockdown

Oldham West and Royton MP Jim McMahon has said that Greater Manchester will be placed in Tier 2 of the new local lockdown system, meaning some forms of socialising will be restricted.

People in Greater Manchester will be banned from meeting indoors when the area is placed under new local lockdown restrictions.

The ban on socialising does not extend to the outdoors however, according to Oldham West and Royton MP Jim McMahon.

Pubs serving food will be allowed to stay open, he tweeted, suggested those that don’t will have to shut their doors.

Manchester MP has tweeted after a Zoom call with Matt Hancock.

“Call with the Secretary of State confirms GM will be placed in Tier 2 with household restrictions on meeting indoors in any setting, but not outdoors Pubs serving food remain open Oldham will be removed from its enhanced lockdown measures and brought into line with GM at last,” Mr McMahon wrote this afternoon.

Greater Manchester follows in the footsteps of Liverpool in finding out which tier it is to be placed in.

The three tiers represent an advancing scale of local restrictions depending on the rates of infection in those areas.

Tier One

Tier one restrictions are thought to be the baseline restrictions in place across England, including a 10pm hospitality curfew and a ban on most gatherings of more than six people.

Tier Two

Tier two restrictions are expected to be similar to rules currently in place in Middlesbrough and parts of the North East, where indoor mixing of households is not allowed.

Two households may be allowed to meet in a private garden, as long as the rule of six and social distancing are followed.

Tier Three

Many details are yet to be confirmed but leaders in Liverpool said pubs and bars, betting shops, casinos, and gyms would close under the third “very high” tier restrictions, while reports also suggest people will have to avoid all non-essential travel and to not travel between areas.

The Northern Mayors are not happy

Political leaders in Merseyside said this morning that the Government has said pubs and bars, betting shops, casinos, adult gaming centres and gyms will close.

At the other end of the spectrum, Tier One would be for areas with fewer than 100 covid-19 cases per 100,000 people and only the ‘minimum restrictions’ would apply.

The new set of restrictions will reportedly be implemented from Wednesday and last at least four weeks before being reviewed.

Over the weekend, northern leaders, including the Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, have been in talks with the government over the new rules.

During a press conference on Saturday, they warned they risk plunging residents into ‘severe hardship in the run-up to Christmas’ following the Chancellor’s support package announcement for those impacted by new lockdown rules.

In his press conference earlier Prof Jonathan Van-Tam, the deputy chief medical officer for England, said coronavirus cases were higher in the north of England now because they were higher there than in the south of England when England came out of lockdown in the summer.

You have worried me now that I might have presented a bi-polar picture that Covid-19 is a problem in the north and not a problem in the south.

On the contrary, the epidemic this time has clearly picked up pace in the north of England earlier than it did in the first wave and that almost certainly relates to the fact the disease levels in the north, and certainly in the north-west, never dropped as far in the summer as they did in the south.

Andy Burnhamwho said at the time that lockdown measures were being eased too soon, has taken this as vindication.

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