COVID-19 tiers: 99% of England placed in Tiers 2 and 3 as new system revealed

99% of the population in England will live under the toughest two tiers of the country’s new lockdown system, it has been revealed.

Around 32 million people – just over 57% of the population – will be in Tier 2, while 23.3 million – 41.5% of the population – will be in Tier 3.

Search your area on this map to find out which tier it has been placed in (scroll down for a full list)

Just 1% of the population, 714,000 people, will be living under Tier 1 restrictions.

Warrington and Liverpool are the only two places in the country which will face eased restrictions from 2 December – both are moving from Tier 3 of the previous lockdown system to Tier 2.

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The tiered system has been strengthened since the original rules were in place before lockdown, with many more areas in the higher tiers in a bid to keep infection rates down.

Before the second lockdown was introduced, 42% of the population was in Tier 1.

In Tier 3, there should be no mixing of households indoors or in most outdoor places, with hospitality venues closed except for takeaway, drive-through or delivery.

Indoor entertainment venues will also be closed, with people urged to avoid travelling outside the area other than where necessary.

In Tier 2, there should be no mixing of households indoors apart from support bubbles, with the rule of six applying outdoors.

Pubs and bars must close unless operating as restaurants, while hospitality venues can only serve alcohol with substantial meals.

In Tier 1 the rule of six applies indoors and outdoors, with people urged to work from home if they can and pubs limited to table service.

The announcement of the tiers descended into chaos when an online postcode checker was launched before Health Secretary Matt Hancock formally revealed the details, although it crashed within minutes of coming online.

In a move aimed at assuaging anger from local leaders and Conservative MPs, Boris Johnson has promised that the tier allocations will be reviewed on 16 December.

But a number of Tories have already said they will vote against the new tiers next week, including 1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady, Bournemouth East MP Tobias Ellwood and Poole MP Sir Robert Syms.

Steve Baker, deputy chairman of the COVID Recovery Group which has been critical of lockdown restrictions, said the “authoritarianism at work today is truly appalling”.

“The government must publish its analysis of the impact interventions are likely to have on controlling COVID, as well as the non-Covid health impact and the impact on society, people’s livelihoods and businesses,” he said.

Sir Roger Gale, MP for the Kent constituency of North Thanet, criticised the decision to place all of the county in Tier 3, telling Sky News he fears people will “skip over the boundary” to go to a nearby pub in Tier 2.

In a bid to soften the blow for Tier 3 areas, ministers are promising them access to rapid-result COVID-19 tests to help bring down infections, as well as cash subsidies.

Extra cash will also be on offer to areas placed into Tier 2 and Tier 3.

The health secretary said “these are not easy decisions, but they have been made according to the best clinical advice”.

Matt Hancock told MPs: “Thanks to the shared sacrifice of everyone in recent weeks, in following the national restrictions, we have been able to start to bring the virus back under control and slow its growth, easing some of the pressure on the NHS.

“We will do this by returning to a regional tiered approach, saving the toughest measures for the parts of the country where prevalence remains too high.”

Downing Street has denied that economic factors played a part in the decision-making process, with the prime minister’s spokesman saying: “We have based tiers on the criteria that we have set out.

“We have been clear on the criteria that we have based the tiering system on and you have got the WMS [written ministerial statement] that explains the rationale for each area.”

Mr Johnson’s spokesman added that the government expects the public to continue to follow the rules, saying: “I think what you’ve seen throughout the pandemic is the public’s will to abide by the restrictions and play their role in driving down the virus.

“We saw that both in the first lockdown, throughout the first set of tiers, throughout the second lockdown, and we believe that will continue to be the case.”

Labour’s shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth said the nation is “still in the tunnel” despite the light offered by vaccines, telling the Commons: “We have a significant way to go to drive infection rates down and keep our constituents safe.

“We understand why tough restrictions are still needed, but let’s be clear: today millions of people trying to survive in the second lockdown will soon be forced to endure further local lockdown restrictions.”

The Confederation of British Industry said some businesses would be left “hanging by a thread” under the new rules.

“For many businesses in England, going into toughened tiers while waiting for a vaccine will feel like suspended animation,” UK policy director Matthew Fell said.

Greater Manchester Andy Burnham told Sky News that he “can see why” the area has been placed into Tier 3, but that the restrictions hit hospitality “far too hard”.

“This is some of the poorest parts of the country that we are talking about. Cities, particularly outside of London and many in the North, will be very, very hard hit indeed by hospitality being closed in December.

“Many of the businesses will not make it through to the new year.”

London mayor Sadiq Khan welcomed news that the capital will be moved back into Tier 2, having previously been in Tier 3, telling Sky News it was the “right decision”.

But he added there was “no room for complacency” among Londoners.

Joe Anderson, mayor of Liverpool, said it was good news that the area was once again in Tier 2, but warned: “We must remain vigilant and ensure this tentative step back to semi-normality is sustained.”

The areas in Tier 3 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

• Bristol

• South Gloucestershire

• North Somerset

The areas in Tier 2 are:

• Liverpool City Region

• London

• Warrington and Cheshire

• Cumbria

• York

• North Yorkshire

• Northamptonshire

• Rutland

• Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes

• Herefordshire

• Worcestershire

• Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin

• Essex, Thurrock and Southend on Sea

• Norfolk

• Suffolk

• Hertfordshire

• Cambridgeshire, including Peterborough

• Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton

• Surrey

• Buckinghamshire

• Oxfordshire

• Reading

• Wokingham

• Bracknell Forest

• Windsor and Maidenhead

• West Berkshire

• Dorset

• Bournemouth

• Christchurch

• Poole

• South Somerset, Somerset West and Taunton, Mendip and Sedgemoor

• Bath and North East Somerset

• Gloucestershire

• Wiltshire and Swindon

• Devon

• East Sussex

• West Sussex

• Brighton and Hove

Just three areas are in Tier 1:

• Isle of Wight

• Cornwall

• Isles of Scilly

(c) Sky News 2020: COVID-19 tiers: 99% of England placed in Tiers 2 and 3 as new system revealed