LOCKED UP
UK lockdown map: Almost a third of Britain under local lockdowns or tough coronavirus rules – so where’s next?
BRITAIN could be heading for another national lockdown with almost a third of people now living under tightened new restrictions.
About 20million people are now in regions slapped with new rules in a bid to halt the rising number of coronavirus cases.
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Today Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Merseyside and Warrington were issued their new guidelines that include bans on mixing socially indoors.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock revealed the new restrictions on Thursday morning, saying it was a "difficult but necessary" move after a spike in "localised" cases.
The move follows other local lockdowns that meant areas including all of the North East, Greater Manchester, Birmingham and Leicester must comply with strict social guidelines and curfews.
With the new restrictions today - along with a number of areas in Wales, about 20million people are living under stricter rules.
This means almost a third of the 66million population have now had their freedoms limited as a swathe of North West, Midlands and West Yorkshire spots all rolled back into local lockdowns on September 22.
Lancashire has also been hit with new rules along with Cardiff, Swansea and Leeds.
London was added to the Government's coronavirus "watch list" as Mayor Sadiq Khan warned the city is at a "tipping point".
While all of England is now having to adhere to the "rule of six" - which limits gatherings to half a dozen people - some entire regions are living with, or soon face harsher rules.
The North East was handed tougher new rules, with households banned from mixing, 10pm curfews imposed and restaurants and cafes limited to offering table service only.
The Health Secretary has refused to rule out a second national lockdown , amid fears Covid cases are spiralling as high as 38,000 a day and said the country faces a "big moment".
Matt Hancock revealed the latest data shows hospital admissions are now doubling every eight days, amid warnings that deaths will rise in the coming weeks.
Boris Johnson hasn't ruled out another national shutdown - although with the increasing number of lightning lockdowns across many regions, much of the country is already living with enforced changes.
Warning a second national lockdown would be “disastrous”, the PM told The Sun: “I don’t want a second national lockdown."
What are the latest lockdown rules in the UK?
- People should work from home if they can
- Weddings slashed from 30 people to 15
- All indoor sports, including five-a-side football, have been put on hold - along with the plan for fans to return to sports stadia from October 1
- Restaurants can only have table service available, although takeaway deliveries remain fine and safe
- Face masks must be worn in taxis and other private hire cars, as the fines for not wearing one was doubled to £200 by the PM
- Military will be brought in to help cops carry out the rules and ensure people are abiding by them
*Where local restrictions have been imposed, different guidance and legislation will apply.
IN LOCKDOWN:
Merseyside
Liverpool city region was today put in lockdown after a rise in cases.
The city's weekly infection rate is currently 268 per 100,000 population, while Knowsley has the second highest rate in the country at 262 in the same week.
The new restrictions, announced by Matt Hancock today, come after Merseyside was put under tightened restrictions recently.
People were told not to mix with people outside their homes.
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North East
Northumberland, Sunderland, North and South Tyneside, Gateshead, Newcastle and County Durham is now back in lockdown.
The infection rate in all of those areas is above 70, Health Secretary Matt Hancock confirmed yesterday.
He said the number of patients on ventilators has risen over 100 for the first time since July in the North East, adding the rise in rates is "concerning".
Bars now have to close between 10pm and 5am while restaurants, cafes and pubs are table service only. Separate households will also not be allowed to mix.
Residents have been warned they should only use public transport for essential travel and not go on holiday while restrictions are in place.
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Greater Manchester
The City of Manchester, Trafford, Oldham, Bury, Bolton, Tameside, Rochdale and Salford all still have coronavirus restrictions.
The 2.8million residents in Greater Manchester are not allowed to mix with other households inside homes or private gardens, apart from if you have formed a support bubble.
They also cannot visit someone else's house or garden, even if they are outside the lockdown area.
All pubs and restaurants in Bolton are now takeaway only and have to close between 10pm and 5am. Residents have been told they shouldn't socialise with people they don't live with in indoor public venues.
Care home and hospital visits have also been restricted in Bolton.
Casinos, skating rinks, bowling alleys, indoor play areas, exhibition centres and conference halls cannot open. And weddings with more than 20 people having a sit-down meal are not allowed.
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Birmingham
Separate households in Birmingham, Sandwell and Solihull are no longer allowed to meet each other indoors or outside. This was brought back in on September 15 following a spike in cases.
Households within a bubble can still meet up and visit public places together.
Anyone not living together cannot meet up in private homes or gardens or public places.
The shutdown affects more than 1.6million people. The move came after regional health and local authority leaders engaged in two days of talks.
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Warrington and Halton
Warrington was today listed by Matt Hancock as another area slapped with tighter social restrictions.
According to the latest data, the area has 163 cases per 100,000 people.
It comes after the area and Halton saw a sharp rise in cases in the local area with a ban on residents mixing with other households and taking public transport for non-essential trips already in force.
No sport is allowed and pubs and restaurants must shut at 10pm after offering only table service under the new rules.
Lancashire
A county-wide lockdown is already in force - banning socialising between households.
Table service will be in place at pubs and restaurants, with a 10pm curfew.
Residents should only use public transport if essential, and no sport is allowed throughout Lancashire.
Care home and hospital visits have been restricted and only allowed in exceptional circumstances.
Casinos, skating rinks, bowling alleys, indoor play areas, exhibition centres and conference halls cannot open. And before the number of people who can attend weddings nationally was slashed from 30 to 15, in Lancashire weddings with more than 20 people having a sit-down meal were not allowed.
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Wolverhampton and Oadby & Wigston
People living in Wolverhampton are banned from almost all socialising.
Households are not able to mix indoors or in their gardens as part of the bid to contain the spiralling cases across the Midlands.
Wider socialising in the city is also banned with anyone not in your household.
Latest figures for Wolverhampton show the rate is 55.4 per 100,000 - and in just one week (September 7-13) there were 146 positive cases.
Oadby & Wigston in Leicestershire is also banned from mixing with people outside their own households or support bubbles. Birmingham and Leicester already have their own restrictions meaning much of the Midlands is now living under a lockdown.
Leader of Wolverhampton Council, Councillor Ian Brookfield, warned: "Please play your part and together we will get through this.”
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Leicester
Leicester's 552,000 residents are still not allowed to meet up with people from different households in homes and gardens, unless within a support bubble.
Clinically extremely vulnerable are still advised to shield in Leicester.
The city was the first in the UK to go into local lockdown on June 30, and was the only place in the country not allowed to ease restrictions in line with the rest of the country on July 4.
At the time, Leicester accounted for 10 per cent of all coronavirus cases in the UK.
Residents were banned from leaving home unless necessary or leaving the city, with officers stopping drivers and on duty at the station to spot check passengers.
In August pubs, cafes and restaurants reopened in the city, with residents also allowed to go on holiday with their household.
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Bradford
All parts of Bradford are banned from socialising with other people outside of their own households or support bubble in private homes and gardens as of 22 September.
Urgent visits from emergency repair workers or carers are allowed.
Some wards had been removed from Bradford's previous restrictions, but after a rise in cases, the entire city was banned from socialising with other households.
In the seven days up to September 13, the rate for confirmed COVID-19 cases in the district was 93.6 people per 100,000.
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Leeds
Households in Leeds have been banned from meeting in private homes or gardens.
Leeds council previously reported a "steep rise" in infections in the city, with the rate at 98.5 per 100,000 people.
The move impacts 780,000 people who live in the city but there are some exemptions.
Wigan
Wigan MP Lisa Nandy said that as a result of a rise in infections in the area they were now subject to the rules for Greater Manchester too - meaning no households were allowed to mix inside.
She said: "I know how hard it it is but to prevent the NHS from being overwhelmed, please follow the guidance."
Kirklees and Calderdale
Kirklees and Calderdale, both in West Yorkshire, have also been slapped with a ban on socialising.
All socialising is banned with households told not to mix indoors or outdoors.
Carers and emergency repair workers are allowed into homes on an urgent basis, but otherwise household visits should be avoided.
Kirklees has seen 311 new cases recorded in the last week, raising the infection rate from 47.8 (cases per 100,000 people) to 70.7.
A Department of Health spokesman said: “All parts of Bradford, Kirklees, Calderdale, will now be banned from socialising with other people outside of their own households or support bubble in private homes and gardens, from 22 September.
“Some wards in these areas had been exempt from restrictions on gatherings introduced at the start of August, but these wards will now also be subject to the ban.”
Glasgow, East Renfrewshire and West Dunbartonshire
People living in Glasgow City, East Refrewshire and West Dunbartonshire should not mingle with people from other households in indoors areas.
But people living in different households can meet outdoors in gardens and at pubs and restaurants.
Visits indoors to hospitals and care homes are limited to essential trips only, with outdoor visits limited to up to three people at a time from no more than two households.
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Northern Ireland
The entire country has to abide by rules on indoor and outdoor gatherings, with the number who can meet outside now down to 15 following a rise in cases.
Residents are only allowed to meet up to six people from two households inside.
There are parts of Belfast that are currently facing extra measures too.
Anyone in the Belfast City Council area, the town of Ballymena or in postcode areas BT28, BT29 and BT43 are not allowed to mix with other households.
Cardiff and Swansea
Cardiff and Swansea have had new restrictions announced as they were plunged into local lockdowns.
They are subject to orders not to travel out of the area unless it's for an essential reason like work or school from Sunday at 6pm.
People are only able to meet people they don’t live with outdoors for the time being.
The news affects 350,000 people.
The town of Llanelli is also under new restrictions as of Saturday evening.
Caerphilly and Rhondda Cynon Taf Wales
The county boroughs in southern Wales have seen restrictions brought back in after a spike in cases - with it expected to remain the same until October.
Residents there are not allowed to leave the county areas without a "reasonable excuse", with people over 11 required to wear face coverings in shops.
Extended households, Wales' version of the bubble system, have been suspended and people are only allowed to meet outdoors.
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Bridgend, Merthyr Tydfil, Newport and Blaenau Gwen
The areas of Bridgend, Merthyr Tydfil, Newport and Blaenau Gwent will be placed under a local lockdown following an increase of coronavirus cases.
Health minister Vaughan Gething said there had been a "worrying and rapid rise" in cases of Covid-19 in the four areas.
Under the measures, which came into force at 6pm on Tuesday, people must not enter or leave the areas without a reasonable excuse.
People are only able to meet outdoors and are unable to meet members of their extended household indoors.
All licensed premises will have to close at 11pm.
ON THE BRINK
London
London was last week added to the national coronavirus "watch list" after a spike in cases as Mayor Sadiq Khan warned the city is at a "tipping point".
Britain's capital has seen a rise of case rates in at least 30 boroughs, according to recent data. The city as a whole has an infection rate of 490.2.
And as the infection rate in around 20 boroughs teeters at the Government's threshold for bringing in restrictions, 500,000 students are set to arrive in the capital for university.
The number of cases per 100,000 people over seven days is reported to have increased in London from 18.8 to around 25.
No additional measures will come in for the capital yet, but putting it on the watch list means that the city will be able to get extra support - with more access to tests and other help.
If Londoners have Covid-19 symptoms they should apply for a test at nhs/coronavirus or call 119.
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Preston
The Lancashire city has reported an increase of 180 cases in the last week, with the rate of infection at 125.8 per 100,000 people.
Officials there are concerned the city could be rolled back into a more severe lockdown to curb the spread.
In the beginning of this month the cases there soared to the highest number since May 27.
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Rossendale, Lancs
Rossendale saw restrictions lifted on September but is now once again an are of concern.
The rate of infection there is now 96.5 with 69 new cases in the last week.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
North West
The North West of England has the highest rate of infection currently of 863.3.
It is feared a lockdown similar to that imposed on the North East this week could be next for the entire region.
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ON THE WATCHLIST
These areas have been identified as "areas of concern" by the government due to rising coronavirus cases.
While they are not yet near the lockdown or "intervention" stage, experts are keeping an eye and restrictions could be implemented in the coming weeks.
- Hertsmere, Herts
- Corby
- Sheffield
- Peterborough
- Northampton
- Stoke-on-Trent
- Great Yarmouth
- Norwich and all of Norfolk
- Swindon
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