News

Manchester will enter Tier 3 after lockdown

The new regional COVID tiers for England were confirmed during an address in the House of Commons on Thursday.

The Manc - 26th November 2020

Greater Manchester will be placed into Tier 3 – the highest level of restrictions – on December 2 when the national lockdown ends.

The new regional COVID tiers for England were confirmed in the House of Commons on Thursday.

Rules for Tier 3 have been designed to combat “very high or very rapidly rising levels of infections” and include strict curbs on social mixing; with some businesses forced to remain closed.

In all Tier 3 areas there will be a ban on meeting other households indoors or outdoors – with pubs and restaurants only permitted to operate as takeaways.

Hotels and indoor entertainment venues must also stay shut.

However, the likes of gyms, libraries, tattoo parlours, beauty studios, hairdressers and barbers in Tier 3 areas can reopen when lockdown lifts next week and trade in a COVID-compliant way.

The full rules for Tier 3 are as follows:

• you must not meet socially indoors or in most outdoor places with anybody you do not live with, or who is not in your support bubble, this includes in any private garden or at most outdoor venues
• you must not socialise in a group of more than six in some other outdoor public spaces, including parks, beaches, countryside accessible to the public, a public garden, grounds of a heritage site or castle, or a sports facility – this is called the ‘rule of 6’
• hospitality settings, such as bars (including shisha venues), pubs, cafes and restaurants are closed – they are permitted to continue sales by takeaway, click-and-collect, drive-through or delivery services.
• accommodation such as hotels, B&Bs, campsites, and guest houses must close. There are several exemptions, such as for those who use these venues as their main residence, and those requiring the venues where it is reasonably necessary for work or education and training 
• indoor entertainment and tourist venues must close. This includes indoor play centres and areas, including trampolining parks and soft play; casinos; bingo halls; bowling alleys; skating rinks; amusement arcades and adult gaming centres; laser quests and escape rooms; cinemas, theatres and concert halls; snooker halls
• indoor attractions at mostly outdoor entertainment venues must also close (indoor shops, through-ways and public toilets at such attractions can remain open). This includes indoor attractions within zoos, safari parks, and wildlife reserves; aquariums, visitor attractions at farms, and other animal attractions; model villages; museums, galleries and sculpture parks; botanical gardens, biomes or greenhouses; theme parks, circuses, fairgrounds and funfairs; visitor attractions at film studios, heritage sites such as castles and stately homes; landmarks including observation decks and viewing platforms
• leisure and sports facilities may continue to stay open, but group exercise classes (including fitness and dance) should not go ahead. Saunas and steam rooms should close
• there should be no public attendance at spectator sport or indoor performances and large business events should not be taking place. Elite sport events may continue to take place without spectators
• large outdoor events (performances and shows) should not take place, with the exception of drive-in events
• places of worship remain open, but you must not attend with or socialise with  anyone outside of your household or support bubble while you are there, unless a legal exemption applies
• weddings and funerals can go ahead with restrictions on the number of attendees – 15 people can attend wedding ceremonies, wedding receptions are not allowed, 30 people can attend funeral ceremonies, 15 people can attend linked commemorative events
• organised outdoor sport, and physical activity and exercise classes can continue, however higher-risk contact activity should not take place
• organised indoor sport, physical activity and exercise classes cannot take place indoors. There are exceptions for indoor disability sport, sport for educational purposes and supervised sport and physical activity for under-18s
• you can continue to travel to venues or amenities which are open, but should aim to reduce the number of journeys you make where possible
• avoid travelling to other parts of the UK, including for overnight stays other than where necessary, such as for work, education, youth services, to receive medical treatment, or because of caring responsibilities. You can travel through other areas as part of a longer journey

This is a breaking news story and is being updated. More to follow.