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Manchester & Lancashire could be forced into Tier 3 lockdown TODAY but local leaders say ‘we won’t accept it’
GREATER Manchester and Lancashire could be given tough Tier 3 lockdown rules TODAY as the Government holds a crucial "gold command" meeting later today.
Local leaders are pushing back, with Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham declaring "we won't accept it".
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Boris Johnson unveiled his three tier lockdown plan on Monday, placing areas in England in either "very high," "high," or "medium" Covid alert levels.
The drastic new measures would place Manchester and Lancashire on "very high" alert level, with pubs forced to shut if they cannot operate as restaurants and households banned from mixing.
But Mr Burnham said in a joint statement with leaders from all 10 councils in Greater Manchester that they would not accept Tier 3 restrictions.
They said: "We do not believe we should be put into Tier 3 for two reasons.
"First, the evidence does not currently support it.
"The rate of Covid infection in Greater Manchester is much lower, at 357.6 cases per 100,000, compared to Liverpool City Region which is in Tier 3 at 488.0 cases per 100,000.
"Plus our hospital admission rate is much lower than in (Liverpool City Region) as deputy CMO Jonathan Van-Tam highlighted in his press conference this week.
"Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust seven-day rolling average Covid patients in beds is at around the 225 mark and in Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust it's at the 100 mark.
"Second, the financial package accompanying Tier 3 is nowhere near sufficient to prevent severe hardship, widespread job losses and business failure."
Latest figures from Monday show there are 449.3 Covid cases per 100,000 in Greater Manchester and 423.4 cases per 100,000 in West Lancashire.
The change would see 3,100 pubs and 475 gyms shut their doors.
And Leader of Manchester City Council Sir Richard Leese has pushed back on the Government's top experts' decisions.
Sir Richard said this morning on Twitter: "I'm all for expert advice but after 7 months of Covid mismanagement maybe we need some new experts."
The local leader has pushed back strongly against closing pubs and bars, saying they are not the causing widespread outbreaks.
He said last week: "A lot of emphasis has been placed on pubs, bars and restaurants.
"The evidence in Manchester is that these are not major sources of transmission."
Adding pressure to the PM, Labour’s Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has said he would prefer a two week "circuit breaker" lockdown to Tier 3 restrictions which could crush businesses.
He warned putting the North into Tier Three restrictions over winter would “be a path to hardship for people, redundancies and business failure”
Both regions were placed under the Tier 2 lockdown bracket on Monday, meaning their Covid alert level is high.
Under Tier 2 rules, the regions are banned from mixing with other households indoors, while the "rule of six" still applies outside.
Mr Johnson rejected the idea of a 'circuit breaker' lockdown on Monday but said "we must act now" to stop infection levels in local areas continuing to spiral out of control.
The crucial test for putting an area into Tier 3 lockdowns is whether local NHS services will be quickly become overwhelmed to the point where they are unable to carry out other essential health checks and procedures.
Liverpool was placed under the highest level after hospital admissions took off, and this morning there were warnings intensive care units could have hit 95 per cent capacity.
Most areas who were previously under local lockdown rules were put into Tier 2 lockdown rules, including Nottinghamshire, East and West Cheshire.
London is currently at the medium level but could be moved to the "high" tier "as soon as this week".
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Sadiq Khan has piled pressure on the Prime Minister to put London on a Tier 2 lockdown order, banning households from mixing indoors if cases jump over 100 per 100,000.
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The London mayor said it is inevitable that the capital will hit the "trigger point" and be given tougher rules in "the next few days".
When asked if he expected new restrictions to be brought in, Mr Khan told Sky News: "In London, we're left with no good options."
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London Mayor Sadiq Khan says 'it's inevitable' capital will need to be moved to a higher Tier as they've been left with 'no good options'
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