In full: Three-quarters of the country will now be in Tier 4, Matt Hancock announces
Telegraph, 30 Dec 2020
Further coronavirus restrictions for most parts of England have been announced by the Health Secretary in a bid to help tackle the spread of the disease which has led to "significant pressure" on the NHS.
Three-quarters of the country will now be in the highest tier, including Greater Manchester, Derbyshire, Birmingham, and Lincolnshire.
The Health Secretary told MPs: "It brings forward the day on which we can lift the restrictions that no-one in this House wants to see any longer than are absolutely necessary.
"But we must act to suppress the virus now, not least because the new variant makes the time between now and then even more difficult.
"And so whilst we have the good news of the vaccine today, we also have to take some difficult decisions."
Matt Hancock also said the Oxford University and AstraZeneca has been approved for use in the UK will be rolled out from Monday. He said the new vaccine offers hope not just to the UK but for the whole world.
He told the House of Commons that the Brexit deal will allow the UK to become even more of a "powerhouse" for natural sciences.
The number of lab-confirmed cases recorded in a single day in the UK hit a new record on Tuesday, rising above 50,000 for the first time, to 53,135.
It comes as hospitals in England struggle under the strain of dealing with a higher number of Covid-19 patients than ever during the pandemic, surpassing the first wave peak that was seen in April.
Asked if he is going to extend tiers in his announcement on Wednesday, Mr Hancock told BBC Breakfast: "Yes, I'm going to set out the details of that to the House of Commons this afternoon.
For all the latest, head to our live blog: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/coronavirus-news-tier-4-announcement-covid-restrictions-oxford/
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Three-quarters of the country will now be in the highest tier, including Greater Manchester, Derbyshire, Birmingham, and Lincolnshire.
The Health Secretary told MPs: "It brings forward the day on which we can lift the restrictions that no-one in this House wants to see any longer than are absolutely necessary.
"But we must act to suppress the virus now, not least because the new variant makes the time between now and then even more difficult.
"And so whilst we have the good news of the vaccine today, we also have to take some difficult decisions."
Matt Hancock also said the Oxford University and AstraZeneca has been approved for use in the UK will be rolled out from Monday. He said the new vaccine offers hope not just to the UK but for the whole world.
He told the House of Commons that the Brexit deal will allow the UK to become even more of a "powerhouse" for natural sciences.
The number of lab-confirmed cases recorded in a single day in the UK hit a new record on Tuesday, rising above 50,000 for the first time, to 53,135.
It comes as hospitals in England struggle under the strain of dealing with a higher number of Covid-19 patients than ever during the pandemic, surpassing the first wave peak that was seen in April.
Asked if he is going to extend tiers in his announcement on Wednesday, Mr Hancock told BBC Breakfast: "Yes, I'm going to set out the details of that to the House of Commons this afternoon.
For all the latest, head to our live blog: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/coronavirus-news-tier-4-announcement-covid-restrictions-oxford/
Subscribe to The Telegraph on YouTube ► https://bit.ly/3idrdLH
Get the latest headlines: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Telegraph.co.uk and YouTube.com/TelegraphTV are websites of The Telegraph, the UK's best-selling quality daily newspaper providing news and analysis on UK and world events, business, sport, lifestyle and culture.
