Pubs in tiers 3 and 4 will not be able to open normally.
All of England’s pubs are set to close – apart from those in the Isles of Scilly.
With Health Secretary Matt Hancock announcing a series of changes to the tiering system which will plunge millions into the harshest restrictions, nowhere in England has been left in tier two. All of the areas currently in the second tier will move up to the third or fourth levels of restrictions on Thursday, December 31, as the mutant strain of coronavirus continues to sweep across the nation.
That leaves only the Isles of Scilly in tier one, with everywhere else in tier three or four, meaning pubs must shut.
The move will come as another hammer blow to the industry, which has been battered by the pandemic as on and off lockdown measures to control Covid-19 have repeatedly forced venues to close.
Pubs are allowed to remain open for takeaways, but tier three rules say: ‘Hospitality settings, such as bars (including shisha bars), pubs, cafes, restaurants, and social clubs must close except for takeaway, delivery and click and collect services. This includes restaurants and bars within hotels or member’s clubs.’
In tier four, largely equivalent to England’s second national lockdown, pubs are forced to shut, ‘with the exception of providing food and drink for takeaway (until 11pm), click-and-collect, drive-through or delivery’.
Announcing the changes on Wednesday afternoon, Mr Hancock said that three quarters of the country will be in tier four by Thursday morning.
He said: ‘Even in most areas not moving into tier four, cases are rising too, and it is therefore necessary to apply tier three measures more broadly too – including in Liverpool and North Yorkshire.
‘The rest of Yorkshire remains in tier three. These changes will take effect from 00:01 tomorrow morning.
‘The new variant means that three quarters of the population are now going to be in tier four and almost all of the country in tiers three and four.
‘And I know that tier three and four measures place a significant burden on people, and especially on businesses affected, but I am afraid it is absolutely necessary because of the number of cases that we’ve seen.
‘But where we are still able to give places greater freedoms, we will continue to do so.’
Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth, said: ‘I understand why he has had to move further areas into Tiers 3 and 4 restrictions today. This is as he says almost the whole country in a form of lockdown.
‘We will vote for the regulations tonight. The situation we are in today is truly horrific.’
A full list of areas in England by tier is available here. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have different restrictions in place.
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