MILLIONS of Brits are heading into a strict Tier 4 lockdown, the PM has announced.
Boris Johnson revealed tougher measures are needed to combat a rogue new strain of Covid – known as VUI202012/01 – which is 70 per cent more contagious.
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In London, the number of positive tests has doubled – and 60 per cent of those are the new strain.
It comes as:
Places in Tier 4 include Kent, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Surrey (excluding Waverley), 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 (excluding Colchester, Uttlesford and Tendring) are also Tier 4.
This evening, Mark Drakeford has announced Wales will fall under the same measures, which will begin at midnight – and warned people are now facing “a pandemic within a pandemic, a crisis within a crisis”.
And Scotland is restricting household mixing to Christmas Day only, while a travel ban between Scotland and the rest of the UK will stay in place over Christmas and the whole of mainland Scotland will go into a level 4 lockdown from Boxing Day.
Under the Tier 4 rules, Brits are banned from household mixing or travelling, unless for essential reasons – meaning Christmas is cancelled for 17million people.
So what are the penalties for flouting the rules?
Fines can be issued for gatherings which breach the rules.
In Tier 4, the only way people can meet is outside – and the rules are strict.
One person can meet one other person outside in a public place.
So, for example, it means that on Christmas Day, two households can’t meet for a walk together.
Households are banned from mixing indoors altogether.
There’s only a few exceptions to this.
Support bubbles will continue in Tier 4.
People can form a support bubble if they’re the only adult in their household, are under 18 and living without adults, are living with a disability which requires continuous care, or are living with a child under 1.
But anyone breaching those very specific orders can be fined.
Outside of that, anyone in a Tier 4 area can’t leave it to go somewhere infection rates are lower.
And after midnight – when the new rules come into force – people leaving London, Kent and other affected areas could even face arrest, it’s suggested.
That has not, so far, been stated by the Government.
Anyone who breaks the rules on gatherings in England could be hit with a £200 fine in the first instance.
Police issue these fines, which are known as fixed penalty notices.
And those who repeatedly flout the guidance will see their fines quickly mount.
The cost doubles for further breaches.
Police can keep adding costs up to a maximum of £6,400.
It’s even more severe for those who hold illegal gatherings, like parties, for more than 30 people.
Those people will be fined £10,000.
Individual charges are different in Wales, where it’s £60 for the first offence, which can be lowered to £30 if paid within a fortnight, and £120 for the second offence and for each further offence.
In Scotland, people aged 16 and over are fined £60 for the first offence, lowered to £30 if paid within 28 days.
It’s £120 for the second offence, which doubles for each further offence up to a maximum of £960.
Police say they will try a series of measures before fines.
Cops aim to follow the ‘four Es’ – engage, explain, encourage, enforce.
That means they’ll first try to engage with someone, and explain how the rules are being broken.
Offenders will be encouraged to change their behaviour to reduce the risk to public safety and health.
But after that, police will tell those who breach the rules to disperse and hit them with fines.
Anyone who continues to ignore cops and Covid guidance can be arrested and charged with a crime under the Coronavirus Act 2020.
The case will then be dealt with by magistrates, who can ultimately issue a maximum sentence of six months’ imprisonment, or a fine.
