Prime Minister to Set ‘Level Three’ Covid Restrictions for the Country in a Statement Monday

BORIS Johnson will deliver a dramatic coronavirus declaration to the country on Monday to set new restrictions.

The Prime Minister will outline a new ‘tiered’ approach to how local Covid situations will be dealt with amid a surge in infections in the north of England.

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The prime minister will reveal all the details of the new streamlined lockdown system in a statement to the House of Commons on Monday, and pubs and restaurants are expected to close in the worst hit areas.

It comes as Chief Strategic Advisor Sir Edward Lister wrote to MPs after a meeting with northern leaders yesterday.

In a letter shared online, Sir Edward stated that the “increasing incidence” of Covid in parts of the country means that certain local areas are “very likely” to face “additional restrictions.”

The letter adds: “The government will discuss a set of measures with local leaders, all of which present difficult options.

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“We must find the right balance between reducing transmission and protecting our economy and society from the worst impact.”

It came as daily cases of coronavirus in the UK fell to 13,684 yesterday from more than 17,000 yesterday, offering hope that tighter restrictions could be slowing the spread.

However, coronavirus deaths reached their highest level in three months with another 87 confirmed deaths.

The Welsh government has also tightened the local blockade in the Bangor area following a sharp increase in cases in the region.

Beginning at 6 pm on Saturday, people will not be allowed to enter or leave the area without a “reasonable excuse” and will only be able to meet people they are not living with outdoors.

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The prime minister’s dramatic speech comes amid a surge in cases across the UK.

A major study has revealed that Covid infections are doubling every fortnight in the Midlands and Yorkshire, twice as fast as in the rest of England.

There are currently 45,000 new cases every day across the country, according to experts at Imperial College London.

Scientists estimate that it now takes 29 days for coronavirus infections to double nationwide.

The findings are based on swabs from 175,000 volunteers between September 18 and October 5.

To combat the surge in cases, the Prime Minister is expected to unveil a three-tier system of lockdown measures in a bid to simplify the current patchwork of measures, which local leaders have called confusing.

Areas with a low infection rate will be placed at ‘Tier 1’, where only national restrictions such as the Rule of Six and the 10pm curfew will apply at hospitality venues.

Regions at ‘Level Two’ will see a ban on home visiting and indoor socializing with other households.

And ‘Level Three’ will see the most serious measures, including a total closure of the hospitality sector and a ban on overnight stays away from home.

The worst affected areas, such as Liverpool, Manchester or Nottingham, could soon be placed in ‘Level Three’ and see severe restrictions applied.

Nottingham has the highest infection rate in England, with 760.6 cases per 100,000 people, a huge jump from 158.3 per 100,000 in the seven days to September 29.

Knowsley has the second highest rate, which has gone from 391.1 to 657.6 per 100,000, while Liverpool is in third place, where the rate has also risen dramatically, from 419.0 to 599.9.

But other figures show that the new restrictions introduced in the worst affected areas are having some impact as the country’s ‘R’ rate, the infection rate, has dropped.

The R rate, how many other people each case infects, has fallen to 1.16 nationwide from 1.39 in early September.

But Yorkshire and The Humber, West Midlands and North West are doing much worse than other parts of England with ‘R’ values ​​between 1.27 and 1.37.

On the contrary, it is below one in London, which means that the number of cases is currently decreasing in the capital.

‘NORTH-SOUTH DIVISION’

The worrying figures show the uneven geographical spread of the virus, as parliamentarians and local leaders in the North expressed anger at the prospect of further restrictions.

During his speech on Monday, the prime minister is expected to announce the closure of hospitality establishments in heavily affected areas such as Liverpool or Manchester.

But ministers have been accused of using data from just 98 pubs to justify the closure of tens of thousands of venues in these regions.

A deputy claimed that the government has “improvised” statistics to close bars and restaurants, endangering the jobs of thousands.

Professor Whitty briefed a cross-section of 149 MPs representing the North and Midlands.

But they claimed they were shown “nonsensical” and highly selective figures to demonstrate “retrospectively” the need for closures, Telegraph reports.

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Meanwhile, the Treasury announced that workers in pubs, restaurants and other businesses that are forced to close under the new restrictions will have two-thirds of their salary paid by the government.

Rishi Sunak said the expansion of the Job Support Scheme would protect jobs and provide “peace of mind and a safety net” for individuals and businesses across the UK ahead of a potentially difficult winter.

Businesses forced to close their doors will also be able to claim crash grants of £ 3,000 a month, payable bi-weekly, marking an increase from the previous maximum of £ 1,500 every three weeks.

The chancellor insisted that the new support was “very different” from the leave of absence and argued that it was “fundamentally wrong” to keep people in jobs that only existed within the scheme.

But mayors in northern England said the new measures did not appear to go “far enough” to avoid “real hardship, job losses and business failures this winter.”

SCOTLAND BLOCKED

It comes as other regions of the UK are also seeing tightening of restrictions following a spike in cases.

Scotland saw all pubs closed at 6pm yesterday as part of new measures introduced by Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon to stop the spread.

Restaurants and bars have been banned from selling alcoholic beverages and must close at 6 p.m. tonight when a new curfew begins, with a total closure of 16 days in the Central Belt.

The ‘central belt’ included Greater Glasgow & Clyde, Lanarkshire, Ayrshire & Arran, Lothian and Forth Valley, and affects around 3.4 million people.

And in Wales, the city of Bangor has been hit by a local lockdown after its infection rate reached 400 cases per 100,000 residents.

Prime Minister Mark Drakeford said the new cases were related to “people who socialize” as well as “youth and students.”

But Drakeford said that where local restrictions had been in place the longest, in parts of south-east Wales, there was evidence that Covid-19 was “starting to get under control.”

In Blaenau Gwent, there were more than 300 cases of the virus per 100,000 people, but now it has dropped to fewer than 100 cases per 100,000 people.

Drakeford said the Welsh government was “actively exploring next steps” with local authorities in such areas, but that the pattern was not yet stable enough to lift restrictions.