The Prime Minister yesterday set out how the UK government will further simplify and standardise local rules by introducing a three tiered system of local COVID Alert Levels in England.
Addressing MPs before hosting a Downing Street press conference, he confirmed the levels will be set at medium, high, and very high.
He set out how this new approach will be simpler and standardised, and thanked local leaders who have engaged with the government over the weekend.
The “medium” alert level – which will cover most of the country – will consist of the current national measures, which came into force on 25 September.
This includes the Rule of Six, and the closure of hospitality at 10pm.
The “high” alert level will reflect many current local interventions, but there will now be consistency across the country.
This primarily aims to reduce household to household transmission by preventing all mixing between households or support bubbles indoors. The Rule of Six will apply in outdoor spaces, including private gardens.
Most areas which are already subject to local restrictions will automatically move into the “high” alert level.
The “very high” alert level will apply where transmission rates are causing the greatest concern, based on an assessment of all the available data and the local situation.
This includes incidence and test positivity, including amongst older and more at-risk age groups, as well as the growth rate, hospital admissions and other factors.
In these areas, the government will set a baseline of prohibiting social mixing indoors and in private gardens, with the Rule of Six allowed in open public spaces like parks and beaches.
Pubs and bars must close, and can only remain open where they operate as if they were a restaurant – which means serving substantial meals, like a main lunchtime or evening meal. They may only serve alcohol as part of such a meal.
People will be advised not to travel in and out of these areas.
To create local consensus behind this more severe action, the government will work with local leaders on how individual areas should go beyond this baseline, which may include measures such as the closure of gyms, casinos, and leisure centres.
Non-essential retail, schools and universities will remain open in all levels.
Cases are rising rapidly across the country, particularly in the North East and North West, and this is resulting in increased hospitalisations and deaths.
The Prime Minster said that further action is required now to suppress the virus and make sure the NHS isn’t overwhelmed, and can continue providing essential services such as cancer care.
This follows significant local engagement throughout the weekend.
On Sunday, the Prime Minister spoke to Steve Rotheram, Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, following detailed discussions over the last few days between all the region’s leaders, Chief Executives and senior government figures.
They discussed the huge challenge from rising numbers of COVID cases in the region and pledged to work together on combatting the virus.
Senior No 10 advisers and the Housing Communities and Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick also held discussions with local authority leaders and mayors from the highest areas of concern.
As the Prime Minister said, in recent months, local outbreaks have been tackled with targeted restrictions – helping save lives and avoiding the need to apply those measures nationally.
However, over time this has led to different rules in different parts of the country, with some rules becoming increasingly complex and difficult to enforce.
A postcode checker on gov.uk will show which alert level applies in each area and the NHS COVID-19 app will also direct people to this information.
Regulations for all three local alert levels were laid yesterday (Monday) and they will be debated and voted on in the House of Commons today (Tuesday). Subject to that vote, they will come into force on Wednesday, subject to the approval of Parliament.
These measures will be kept under constant review, including a four-week sunset clause for interventions in “very high” areas.
The PM also confirmed that the government will also provide Local Authorities across England with around £1 billion of new financial support.
He also said that engagement with other leaders in the North West, the North East and Yorkshire & Humber is continuing.
The PM also called on local leaders in the areas rated very high to work with the government on these measures, in return for more support for local test and trace, more funding for local enforcement, the offer of help from the armed services, and the job support scheme as announced by the Chancellor.
PM Boris Johnson made a statement at the coronavirus press conference:
Good evening everyone.
We are entering a new and crucial phase of our fight against Coronavirus.
Because the number of cases has gone up four times in four weeks and it is once again spreading among the elderly and vulnerable.
There are already more Covid patients in UK hospitals today than there were on 23 March when the whole country went into lockdown and deaths, alas, are also rising once again.
These figures are flashing at us like dashboard warnings in a passenger jet. And we must act now.
So we are giving local authorities across England around a billion pounds so they can protect vital services as they fight the virus.
Nightingale Hospitals across the North of England are being prepared for service.
And so we can squash this virus wherever it appears we are today simplifying, standardising and in some places toughening local rules in England by introducing three levels of Covid Alert.
- Medium, with existing national measures such as the Rule of Six and the closure of hospitality at 10pm.
- High, with extra measures including a ban on indoor social mixing between households or support bubbles.
- And Very High, for places where, without further action, the NHS will swiftly be under intolerable pressure.
Areas within the Very High Alert category will be reviewed every four weeks and nowhere will be shut down indefinitely. And the exact restrictions at this level, Very High, will be worked out with local leaders, along with tailored packages of support.
But at a minimum they will, sadly, include a ban on all social mixing between households in private places, including gardens
and pubs and bars must close unless they can operate solely as a restaurant, serving alcohol only as part of a main meal.
We will also ask people not to travel into and out of Very High alert level areas.
Nobody affected by this will be left to fend for themselves.
And we will expand our unprecedented economic support to assist those affected by these decisions, extending our Job Support Scheme to cover two-thirds of the wages of those in any business that is required to close, and providing those businesses with a cash grant of up to £3,000 a month, instead of £1500 every three weeks, and extra funding too for those in the Very High category for local test and trace and enforcement.
You will shortly be able to type in your postcode into Gov.UK and see exactly what restrictions apply where you live.
The majority of the country will, for now, be at medium.
Most areas currently under local intervention will be at High, and Nottinghamshire, including Nottingham itself, East and West Cheshire and a small area of High Peak will also move to this level.
Over the weekend we have been working with local leaders in areas where the data are most worrying.
And from Wednesday, local authorities in the Liverpool City Region will move to the Very High alert level.
In addition to pubs and bars we have agreed with Liverpool City mayor Steve Rotheram that gyms, leisure centres, betting shops, adult gaming centres and casinos will close.
We are still working with other local leaders to determine how best to tackle the resurgence of the virus in their areas. But tackle it we will.
No one, least of all me, wants to impose these kinds of erosions of our personal liberty, but I am as convinced as I have ever been that the British people have the resolve to beat this virus and that, together, we will do just that.
With that I’ll hand over to the Chancellor, who has some more details on how we’ll be supporting these businesses, employees and areas affected by today’s changes …
Full details on what the COVID Alert Levels contain are set out below:
Local COVID Alert Level – Medium
This is for areas where national restrictions continue to be in place. This means:
- All businesses and venues can continue to operate, in a COVID-Secure manner, other than those that remain closed in law, such as nightclubs.
- Certain businesses selling food or drink on their premises are required to close between 10pm and 5am.
- Businesses and venues selling food for consumption off the premises can continue to do so after 10pm as long as this is through delivery service, click-and-collect or drive-thru.
- Schools, universities and places of worship remain open
- Weddings and funerals can go ahead with restrictions on the number of attendees
- Organised indoor sport and exercise classes can continue to take place, provided the Rule of Six is followed
- People must not meet in groups larger than 6, indoors or outdoors
Local COVID Alert Level – High
- This is for areas with a higher level of infections. This means the following additional measures are in place:
- People must not meet with anybody outside their household or support bubble in any indoor setting, whether at home or in a public place
- People must not meet in a group of more than 6 outside, including in a garden or other space.
- People should aim to reduce the number of journeys they make where possible. If they need to travel, they should walk or cycle where possible, or to plan ahead and avoid busy times and routes on public transport.
Local COVID Alert Level – Very High
This is for areas with a very high level of infections. The Government will set a baseline of measures for any area in this local alert level. Consultation with local authorities will determine additional measures.
The baseline means the below additional measures are in place:
- Pubs and bars must close, and can only remain open where they operate as if they were a restaurant – which means serving substantial meals, like a main lunchtime or evening meal. They may only serve alcohol as part of such a meal.
- Wedding receptions are not allowed
- People must not meet with anybody outside their household or support bubble in any indoor or outdoor setting, whether at home or in a public space. The Rule of Six applies in open public spaces like parks and beaches.
- People should try to avoid travelling outside the ‘Very High’ area they are in, or entering a ‘Very High’ area, other than for things like work, education, accessing youth services, to meet caring responsibilities or if they are in transit.
- People should avoid staying overnight in another part of the UK if they are resident in a ‘Very High’ area, or avoid staying overnight in a ‘Very High’ area if they are resident elsewhere.
Local COVID Alert Level – Very High:
Liverpool City Region
- Liverpool
- Knowsley
- Wirral
- St Helens
- Sefton
- Halton
Scotland is likely to adopt it’s own version of the ‘three tier’ strategy when the current ‘circuit breaker’ ends later this month, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed.
She told yesterday’s press briefing: “We intend to develop our own tiering framework and take that to Parliament after the October recess and of course, that will coincide with the ending of the temporary reset restrictions announced last week.
“At a strategic level, 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, though, I would stress, that operational decisions about which tiers might apply in which parts of our nations will be for each of us to take at a devolved level.
“The publication of a new framework will be a key step to guide us through the next phase of the pandemic. But it’s by no means the only step we will be taking over the next couple of weeks.
“What we want to do is ensure that these temporary restrictions don’t simply slow or reverse the increase in cases for a while, although that is clearly important, before things return to normal or as they were before these restrictions afterwards.
“What we want to do is use the two weeks to secure a longer term benefit and greater resilience as we know we will be living with this virus for some time yet to come.
“So, for example, as I indicated last week, later this week we will introduce regulations to extend the mandatory use of face coverings in indoor communal settings, for example, staff canteens and corridors in workplaces.
“We are also going to be taking action to strengthen compliance with the different strands of the FACTS advice. That will focus particularly on self-isolation because that is so essential to reducing and preventing transmission, but it also an area where we know, for understandable reasons, that compliance is not yet as high as we need it to be.
“We are also talking to different sectors of the economy, including hospitality and retail, to help them ensure that they can operate even more safely in future. For example, we have already asked shops to return to two metre physical distancing, and to reintroduce other measures, such as one way systems, that they had place earlier on in the pandemic.
“And finally, as I said last week in parliament, we are reviewing, again, our testing strategy. As we continue to expand our testing capacity, we are looking at the basis on which we would test more people including groups of people who do not have symptoms but who may, if the virus is not detected help to generate, or risk, community transmission, or transmission where people are vulnerable.
“So we will be working hard over the next two weeks, to further improve how we control the pandemic, while living as freely as possible for individuals and businesses, and we will be seeking to ensure that as we exit the reset restrictions two weeks from now, we do that on a more resilient footing.”