When will I come out of Tier 4? Date tiers and lockdown will be reviewed

THREE-QUARTERS of England will now be in Tier 4 lockdown after Matt Hancock’s announcement on December 30.

All of the North East of England and most of the Midlands are the latest areas to join the toughest restriction as a result of the mutant Covid strain. But how long will it be before they can move out of Tier 4?

Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates

How long will Tier 4 restrictions last?

Tier 4 measures came into force from one minute past midnight on December 20, and a raft more areas were plunged into the highest tier from December 26, Boxing Day.

And three-quarters of the country will wake up in Tier 4 on December 31 – squashing any last remaining hopes of New Year’s Eve plans for the majority of people.

They will remain in place for at least two weeks, with a review to come to see if it needs to be extended.

For those affected, Tier 4 will essentially be a return to the full lockdown which ended in England on December 2.

Affected areas include Kent, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Surrey, the boroughs of Gosport, Havant, Portsmouth, Rother and Hastings, all 32 London boroughs and the city of London.

Bedford, Central Bedfordshire, Milton Keynes, Luton, Peterborough, Hertfordshire and Essex are also Tier 4.

On December 26, Sussex, Oxfordshire, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, parts of Essex not already in Tier 4, Waverley, and Hampshire were also added to the highest tier.

And on December 31, parts of Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Birmingham, Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Lancashire, Cheshire, and Gloucestershire will all move into Tier 4.

Greater Manchester, Somerset, Isle of Wight, New Forest, Coventry, Cumbria, Bournemouth, and Swindon will also join them in the top tier.

ALL English people are now living in Tier 3 or 4 lockdown – apart from 2,000 people living on the Isles of Scilly.

The dramatic move was in response to concerns over more contagious strains of the virus.

According to ONS, 49 per cent of new cases in England between December 14 and 18 were linked to the new strain, which was first discovered by health authorities in Kent in October.   

Boris told around 20 million Brits in Tier 4 they could not see their families this Christmas thanks to his tough crackdown.

He vowed: “We have to act to protect the public.”

It comes as….

• Boris Johnson cancelled Christmas for millions as he put London, the South East and East in Tier 4 lockdown
• The new variant strain of the virus which causes Covid-19 may be up to 70% more transmissible
• All Brits have been told to stay local during the festive season
• Christmas bubbles in Tiers 1, 2 and 3 have been cut to just 24 hours on December 25
• Non-essential shops and gyms in Tier 4 areas must be closed from midnight
• Those in Tier 4 will be able to meet only one other person outdoors – but must not stay overnight from home
• Wales will go into lockdown from tonight – but people can bubble for Christmas day only

When is the Tier 4 review?

A review of the Tier 4 measure is expected to take place on January 13 – two weeks after the last review on December 30.

It’s not guaranteed that the affected regions will exit Tier 4 on the review date.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock reviewed the tiered system on December 16 and changes were limited.

He also reviewed the system on December 23, placing large swathes of the South of England under the toughest restrictions from today (Boxing Day, December 26).

And the review on December 30 was even more far-reaching – putting the majority of the country into effective lockdown.

FULL LIST OF UPDATES FROM DECEMBER 30

Areas moving into Tier 4 (from December 31)

• 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, Bolsover, North East 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 ) 
• North East (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

Areas moving into Tier 3 (from December 31)

• Rutland 
• Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin 
• Worcestershire (Bromsgrove, Malvern Hills, Redditch, Worcester, Wychavon, Wyre Forest)
• Herefordshire 
• Liverpool City Region (Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, Wirral, St Helens) 
• York & North Yorkshire (Scarborough, Hambleton, Richmondshire, Selby, Craven, Ryedale, Harrogate, City of York) 
• Bath and North East Somerset 
• Devon, Plymouth, Torbay (East Devon, Exeter, Mid Devon, North Devon, South Hams, Teignbridge, Torridge, West Devon, Plymouth, Torbay)
• Cornwall 
• Dorset
• Wiltshire

When will the lockdown tier system end?

The system is expected to continue until coronavirus is deemed ineffective enough to warrant allowing all restrictions to be relaxed.

According to the Daily Mail, SAGE advisers have warned that the UK needs to speed up the rollout of a vaccine to a staggering two million Brits a week, and are calling for a national lockdown throughout January to avoid thousands of deaths.

This will be when either there is herd immunity after enough people are vaccinated – or if the virus peters out or mutates into a harmless variation.