Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced the lockdown changes from Saturday for the area of Liverpool City, Warrington, Hartlepool and Middlesbrough after coronavirus rates continued to rise – and violators will have to pay fines of £ 200
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Fifty regions of England are now subject to local lockdown rules after the government announced tough new restrictions to prevent the coronavirus from spiraling out of control
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has announced that people who do not live together will be legally prohibited from mixing in a private home, private garden or indoor location in the area of Liverpool City, Warrington, Hartlepool and Middlesbrough
The law will change formally in the early hours of Saturday at midnight one minute
The City of Liverpool and Warrington area already had laws against people meeting in private homes and advice against meeting in pubs and restaurants
But cases have continued to rise – and now stand at 268 per 100,000 population in Liverpool
In these two areas, the patchwork of advice will now be transformed into comprehensive criminal law, as it has already been in seven regions of North East England And the law will be introduced from scratch in Hartlepool and Middlesbrough
Violators face immediate fine of £ 200 People who share a ‘bubble of support’ or childcare are exempt and there are other exemptions including school and work
M Hancock told the House of Commons he would « recommend » avoiding any social mixing between different households – outside or inside – in the four regions covered today
However, it will only be illegal to meet people from other households in homes, gardens or indoor public places.Gathering in parks or beer gardens, in groups of no more than six, will be against the guidelines but not the law
During this time, people from the four zones are recommended not to participate in any sports matches; only visit nursing homes in exceptional circumstances; and avoid all non-essential travel Travel for work or school is exempt
Andy McDonald, Labor MP for Middlesbrough, said further measures in his constituency were « inevitable » and household mixing was the « root » cause of an increase in the number of cases
But Middlesbrough Mayor Andy Preston tweeted: ‘We tried to contact the government but they weren’t listening They’re imposing restrictions that will kill viable jobs & harms mental health
This happened while M Hancock was to be criticized by MPs over the 10pm bar curfew across England and confusing rules for a patchwork of local areas
Ministers are now considering a new ‘traffic light’ system for cities in England to help end confusion over local lockdown rules
There are currently 47 different areas with different restrictions and even the Prime Minister is not in control of them
Sources No 10 confirmed officials were considering a three-tier system that would see places with the tightest restrictions, like Bolton, marked tier one, to regions with less stringent measures placed at tier two , and the rest of the country not under local lockdown as level three
In some cities, mixed households are the main driver of rate increases, while in others, host institutions are seen as the key factor
Right-winger Philip Davies raged: « When will the Secretary of State start acting like a conservative with a belief in individual responsibility and abandon this arbitrary socialist and socialist approach that good for nothing but to collapse further? economy and erode our freedoms? «
But M Hancock replied coldly: « It’s perfectly reasonable to argue that we should just let the virus rip
« I just don’t think that the hundreds of thousands of deaths that will follow are not a price anyone should pay »
Despite rising virus rates, M Hancock said today there were ‘first signs’ of action having recently had a ‘positive impact’
But he also said he would keep the 10pm pub curfew under review amid reports he was pushing large crowds into public transport
He said: « We have all seen the pictures of people leaving pubs at 10 a.m., but otherwise they would have been inside establishments and we all know the outside is safer otherwise they would leave later
« Of course we keep this under review and of course we are constantly looking at how we can improve these policies, but I think we need to look at both sides of the evidence to try to do it right. »
Head of large-scale Covid-19 study said restrictions in northern England could curb growth of coronavirus outbreak
Professor Paul Elliott, director of the React study – the largest research of its kind in England – said new rules appeared to be in effect, but warned all age groups were contracting the virus
But blacks are almost twice as likely to die from Covid-19 as whites, according to a study commissioned by London Mayor Sadiq Khan
These areas were already under local lockdown, but they are being tightened up – and what used to be guidelines is now becoming criminal law
It was already illegal to meet people you don’t live with in private homes or gardens
It will now also be illegal to meet people you don’t live with in indoor public places, such as pubs and restaurants First offenders can be fined £ 200
While it is not illegal to meet people in groups of up to six people outdoors, in parks or beer gardens, the government advises against it
As always, there are exemptions, including for people in the bubbles of support or childcare, or meeting for work or education
Meanwhile, advice on using public transport only for essential reasons is being broadened People are now advised to avoid non-essential travel of all kinds indoors, outdoors outside and outside the area
It will be illegal to meet people you don’t live with in private homes or gardens
It will also be illegal to meet people you don’t live with in indoor public places, such as pubs and restaurants. First offenders can be fined £ 200
While it is not illegal to meet people in groups of up to six people outdoors, in parks or beer gardens, the government advises against it
As always, there are exemptions, including for people in the bubbles of support or childcare, or meeting for work or education
Meanwhile, people are now advised to avoid non-essential travel of all kinds inside, outside and outside the area
Matt Hancock, Coronavirus, Lockdown, Liverpool, Middlesbrough
News from around the world – GB – Dating between pubs and houses is made illegal in four new regions, including Liverpool
SOURCE: https://www.w24news.com
