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Millions more people face stricter restrictions after the government announced an extension of Level 4 rules in England in an effort to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that while the changes “will place a significant burden on individuals, and especially affected businesses,” they were “absolutely necessary due to the number of cases we’ve seen.”
He told MPs: “The rapidly increasing cases and the hospitalizations that continue demonstrate the need to act where the virus is spreading.”
Hancock confirmed that the remaining parts of the Southeast that are currently not at Level 4 will be under the new restrictions within hours, along with much of the Midlands, the Northeast, the Northwest and the Southwest.
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He spoke as concerns grow about a new variant of the virus, which appears to be more transmissible and which, he said, “is now spreading across most of England.”
The changes will move an additional 20 million people to Level 4, which means that a total of 44 million people (78% of the population of England) will be at that more difficult level.
The areas that will be covered by the Level 4 rules from 00.01 am on Thursday are:
- Leicester city
- Leicestershire: Oadby and Wigston, Harborough, Hinckley and Bosworth, Blaby, Charnwood, North West Leicestershire, Melton
- Lincolnshire – 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, Bolsaver, Northeast 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
- Greater Manchester: Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan
- Tees Valley: Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, Stockton-on-Tees
- Northeast: 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 Poole
- Isle of Wight
- New forest
Additionally, the following areas will move to Level 3 at the same time:
- Rutland
- Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin
- Worcestershire (Bromsgrove, Malvern Hills, Redditch, Worcester, Wychavon, Wyre Forest)
- Herefordshire
- Liverpool City Region (Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, Wirral, St Helens)
- York and North Yorkshire (Scarborough, Hambleton, Richmondshire, Selby, Craven, Ryedale, Harrogate, City of York)
- Bath and Northeast Somerset
- Devon, Plymouth, Torbay (East Devon, Exeter, Mid Devon, North Devon, South Hams, Teignbridge, Torridge, West Devon, Plymouth, Torbay)
- Cornwall
- Dorset
- Wiltshire
This will mean that 12 million people will be at Level 3, 22% of the population of England.
There will be no areas at Level 2 and Isles of Scilly will remain at Level 1.
The changes come after two days when more than 50,000 new cases of the virus were reported. 50,023 on Wednesday and 53,135 on Tuesday.
Also on Wednesday, the government announced that a The second COVID-19 vaccine has been approved for use. and it can be distributed as of January 4.
Mr. Hancock said that the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine “is our way out of the pandemic.”
Earlier, he told Sky News: “This is very good news to accelerate the launch of the vaccine. It ushers in the day when we can get back to normal.”
