Matt Hancock Announces New Areas Heading Into Tier 4 Restrictions

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has announced the new areas heading into tighter new restrictions in a bid to curb the rapid spread of Covid-19 across the country.

A number of areas have now been put into Tier 4, which seems millions more people facing the harshest measures ahead of the New Year.

The latest data has shown that 90 per cent of local areas in England saw a hike of infection rates in the run-up to Christmas.

PA Images)

And several more areas with high case rates - including some in tier two areas - could now be at risk of being put straight under tier four rules.

The new areas being put into Tier 4 from tomorrow are as follows:

Leicester City
Leicestershire
Lincolnshire
Northamptonshire
Derby and Derbyshire
Nottingham and Nottinghamshire
Birmingham and Black Country
Coventry
Solihull
Warwickshire
Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent
Lancashire
Cheshire and Warrington
Cumbria
Greater Manchester
Tees Valley
North East Gloucestershire
Somerset council
Swindon
Bournemouth
Isle of Wight
New Forest

Tier 3 measures have also been implemented in Liverpool and Yorkshire.

Tougher restrictions come as the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine has been approved for use in the UK.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has authorised the vaccine for use, meaning it is both safe and effective to be rolled out to the public.

PA

It is expected the rollout of the vaccine will begin on Monday 4th January. It will require two doses to be taken 12 weeks apart.

Confirming the news, the Department of Health and Social Care said: "The Government has today accepted the recommendation from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to authorise Oxford University/AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine for use.

"This follows rigorous clinical trials and a thorough analysis of the data by experts at the MHRA, which has concluded that the vaccine has met its strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness."

Topics: UK News, lockdown, News, Coronavirus, Covid-19

Kimberley Bond

Kim is a journalist at Tyla, and has previously worked at the Evening Standard, Radio Times as well as several national newspapers. A showbiz obsessive and a television fanatic, Kim is particularly interested in celebrity gossip, A-list events and the latest releases on either the big or small screen. Contact her at [email protected]

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