It is 'necessary' to put Northamptonshire into Tier Two under Covid Winter Plan, says Health Secretary
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Health Secretary Matt Hancock says it is "necessary" to put Northamptonshire into Tier Two as part of the Government's Covid Winter Plan.
Public Health officials and council leaders were among many across the country hoping to remain in the lower tier, Tier One, when the national lockdown ends next week.
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Hide AdBut extra restrictions in the high risk category, confirmed today, mean households will still not be allowed to mix indoors while pubs can only serve alcohol as part of a "substantial meal."
Neighbouring counties of Warwickshire and Leicestershire are both in Tier Three — very high risk.
Mr Hancock told the House of Commons that the majority of England will be in Tier Two, but added: "These decisions are not easy but they are necessary.
"As tempting as it may be we cannot just flick a switch and return life to normal or we would see the NHS would be overwhelmed again with all that could entail.
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Hide Ad"We've looked not just at geographical areas but also human factors that influence how the virus spreads like travel patterns and situation in neighbouring areas..
"To keep people save and keep the gains that are being made more poeple will be in the top two tiers.
"I know many other areas would want to be in Tier One. I hope that so many other parts of the country will get to Tier One soon, the sooner people stick to the rules, the quicker that will happen."
These measures will be reviewed on December 16 while a five-day Christmas break is planned to allow up to three households to mix in a bubble between December 23 and December 27.
Areas in Tier Three are:
Greater Manchester
Birmingham and Black Country
Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
Leeds
Hull
City of Wolverhampton
Kent and Medway
South Yorkshire
Hartlepool
Middlesbrough
Stockton-on-Tees
Redcar and Cleveland
Darlington
Sunderland
South Tyneside
Gateshead
North Tyneside
County Durham
Northumberland
Lancashire
Blackpool
Blackburn with Darwen
The Humber
West Yorkshire
Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent
Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull
Derby and Derbyshire
Nottingham and Nottinghamshire
Leicester and Leicestershire
Lincolnshire
Slough (remainder of Berkshire is tier 2: High alert)
Bristol
South Gloucestershire
North Somerset
Areas in Tier Two:
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Liverpool City Region
London
Warrington and Cheshire
Cumbria
York and North Yorkshire
Northamptonshire
Rutland
Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes
Herefordshire
Worcestershire
Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin
Essex, Thurrock and Southend on Sea
Norfolk
Suffolk
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton
Surrey
Buckinghamshire
Oxfordshire
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Hide AdReading, Wokingham, Bracknell Forest, Windsor and Maidenhead, West Berkshire
Dorset, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset
Gloucestershire
Wiltshire and Swindon
Devon
Two areas are in Tier One:
Isle of Wight
Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly
The tiered system has been strengthened sinc
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