It has been confirmed today that Greater Manchester will be placed into Tier 4 restrictions following the second official review of the UK government’s tier system.
The new classification was announced by Health Secretary Matt Hancock during a direct address to MPs in the House of Commons a few moments ago.
These changes will take effect at 0.01am tomorrow.
Announcing the new classifications, Mr Hancock said: “Unfortunately, this new variant is now spreading across most of England and cases are doubling fast [and] it is therefore necessary to apply Tier 4 measures to a wider area, including the remaining parts of the South East, as well as large parts of the Midlands, the North West, the North East and the South West.”
Lancashire, Cheshire, Warrington, Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen will also move from Tier 3 restrictions into Tier 4.
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Liverpool City Region will move from Tier 2 restrictions into Tier 3, while Cumbria will from Tier 2 into Tier 4.
BREAKING: Health Secretary Matt Hancock says that three quarters of the population of England are now going to be in Tier 4 due to the spread of the second COVID variant.
It comes after coronavirus (COVID-19) infection rates have continued to rise across the region – with nine out of the ten boroughs seeing increases – and the latest data now showing the region-wide infection rate looking set to top 200 cases per 100,000 people again for the first time since last month.
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Greater Manchester had previously remained under Tier 3 restrictions since the country came out of the national second lockdown at the start of December, with no changes in almost four weeks.
Tier 4
The new tier 4 restrictions will see Greater Manchester residents told to “stay at home” and not leave or be outside of their home except for specific purposes.
No household mixing is allowed – aside from support bubbles and two people meeting in public outdoor spaces – all hospitality and non-essential retail must close, except for takeaway, drive-through or delivery services, and all indoor leisure and entertainment venues must too close.
Travel is only permitted for work, education or other legally permitted reasons, and residents must not leave a Tier 4 area or stay overnight away from home.
Residents in Tiers 1 – 3 should also not enter Tier 4 areas.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson is now due to make a follow-up announcement regarding the return to school ahead of the new term for millions of children across the country at 3:30pm.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has announced millions more people are facing tighter Covid-19 restrictions as the Government extends Tier 4 rules to cover more areas in England
The review follows widespread reports by a number of major news outlets that have been emerging over the past week or so to suggest that England could immediately head into a full lockdown, or even see additional ‘Tier 5’ restrictions imposed following the confirmation by Health Secretary Matt Hancock earlier this month that a “new variant” of coronavirus has been detected in the UK, which first forced London and large parts of the South East into Tier 4 “stay at home” measures over the festive period.
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It also comes after millions more people were then moved into tougher restrictions on Boxing Day, with some six million people entering Tier 4, and a further four million people placed into Tier 3.
This thus brought the total of people in Tier 4 to 24 million, which was 43% of the population.
The approval of the new vaccine is set to accelerate UK’s immunisation campaign – with 100 million doses of the Oxford jab already ordered – and is has prompted Matt Hancock to express confidence the country could now “get out of the pandemic by spring”.
Two shots will be required for maximum effect, and the rollout of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is scheduled for 4th January.
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This is a BREAKING NEWS story – More to follow.
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For the latest information, guidance and support during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the UK, please do refer to official sources at gov.uk/coronavirus.
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Hundreds of staff at four Greater Manchester hospitals to strike AGAIN next week
Emily Sergeant
Another round of strikes has been called at a handful of major Greater Manchester hospitals.
Amid ongoing disputes following the first set of strikes at the end of last month, it has now been announced that more than 350 Northern Care Alliance Foundation Trust (NCA) employees – including nurses, clinical support workers and housekeepers – who are members of the union UNISON will once again walk out for three days next week.
According to the union, the dispute centres on the NCA’s use of an outside agency called NHS Professionals (NHSP) to manage overtime.
When covering staff shortages, workers are entitled to time-and-a-half pay – however in some cases, staff earn less than they would on a normal shift, and some have even been missing out on more than £80 per shift, the union added.
Operating theatre staff were previously on picket lines in June, and although an option to resolve the row was initially tabled by NCA bosses, this has now fallen through.
Hundreds of staff at four of Greater Manchester’s hospitals are set to strike next week / Credit: Stephen Andrews (via Unsplash)
This means that staff at Salford Royal Hospital, Royal Oldham Hospital, Rochdale Infirmary, and Fairfield Hospital in Bury are walking out next week on Monday 14, Tuesday 15, and Thursday 17 September.
The union’s North West regional organiser, Kevin Dolan, said the trust had given ‘no indication’ that it’s willing to re-enter negotiations, adding that operating theatre services were ‘chronically under-staffed’ and staff were choosing to work extra shifts to cover shortages.
Ahead of the August strikes, the trust declared a critical incident to help it secure extra support and keep urgent surgery running, while also announcing that some procedures would have to be postponed.
Understandably, some disruption is expected at each of the hospitals on strike days.
But Gertie Nic Philib, who is the chief people and strategy officer at the Northern Care Alliance, said that the trust will do ‘everything we can to minimise the impact on patients’ and ‘maintain high standards of care and quality at all times.’
“We also have contingency plans in place for emergency situations,” they concluded.
Featured Image – Pxhere
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Stockport man jailed for life after kidnapping and sexually assaulting teenage girl
Emily Sergeant
A Stockport man has been sentenced to life in prison after kidnapping and sexually assaulting a teenage girl on her way home from the library.
Paul Sharpe has been sentenced to life imprisonment with an eight-year minimum term in prison after being convicted of a number of offences when subjected a teenage girl to what police called a ‘terrifying ordeal’ that lasted several hours back in May 2026.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) confirmed that the victim had been studying at Sale Library before beginning her journey home with friends at around 5:50pm and contacting her parents at 6:10pm to let them know she was on her way.
Twenty minutes later, she spoke to her boyfriend on the phone and said she was approximately five minutes away from home, but that her phone battery was about to die.
This was the last contact received from the victim that evening.
While walking along Bradgate Road in Altrincham, the victim noticed a grey Ford parked nearby and a man wearing a high-visibility jacket pressing doorbells in the area.
As she walked past, Sharpe approached her from behind, placed her in a headlock and threatened to stab her if she did not get into his vehicle.
Concerned that their daughter had not returned home, the victim’s family contacted police at 9:22pm to report her missing, and officers immediately launched an investigation to locate her.
Over the next several hours, the victim was subjected to and placed in a number of terrifying situations.
Sharpe drove the victim to several locations across Greater Manchester and Cheshire, before police located and arrested him at around 3:40am on 19 May 2026.
Following his arrested, 56-year-old Sharpe was convicted of kidnap, committing an offence with intent to commit a sexual offence, sexual assault, engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, threats with a bladed article, and administering a noxious substance with intent to injure, annoy or aggrieve.
“This was a terrifying ordeal for a young girl who was simply making her way home,” explained Detective Inspector Karl Perry, from GMP’s Criminal Investigation Department.
“Sharpe targeted a vulnerable victim, subjected her to hours of fear and intimidation, and went on to sexually assault her.
“The victim has shown immense courage throughout the investigation and court proceedings. Through her bravery and actions, she no doubt made it harder for Sharpe to carry out whatever acts he had planned.”
The Manc -
30th December 2020 
