New tier restrictions announced from Boxing Day

In a press conference from Downing Street this afternoon, Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced new tier restrictions for various areas in England.

From 00:01 on Boxing Day, Cornwall and Herefordshire will move to tier two; with Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset (including North Somerset), Swindon, the Isle of Wight, the New Forest, Northamptonshire, Cheshire and Warrington moving into tier three. Theatre Royal Bath, Bristol Old Vic and Northampton’s Royal & Derngate are a few affected theatres by these new measures.

Sussex, Oxfordshire, Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire will be placed in tier 4, along with the parts of Essex not currently at this level. Also, Waverley in Surrey, and Hampshire - including Portsmouth and Southampton but not the New Forest - so theatres in these areas will also not be permitted to open.