Tier 3 for Christmas in Black Country and Staffordshire, Health Secretary confirms
The Black Country and Staffordshire will remain in Tier 3 over Christmas, it has been confirmed.
The region is to stay under the toughest "very high alert" measures following a Government review of restrictions.
Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton will all stay in Tier 3, as will Cannock Chase, Lichfield, South Staffordshire and Stafford.
Birmingham will also remain under the strictest measures, following an announcement in the Commons from Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
It means pubs and restaurants will remain shut, except for takeaway, and that fans are not allowed into sports stadiums.
People from different households are not allowed to mix indoors or in private gardens unless they share a support bubble.
The rules will be temporarily relaxed from December 23-27, allowing up to three households to form a festive bubble.
The tier system will then return on December 28, with another review due to be held on December 30.
Mr Hancock announced that Bristol and North Somerset will drop down to Tier 2 due to falling cases, while Herefordshire has been placed in Tier 1.
More areas of the South East were moved up to Tier 3 due to rising cases and an increase in hospital admissions.
The Health Secretary called on people to take personal responsibility for controlling the spread of Covid, and said: "We must be vigilant and keep this virus under control."
It came as infection rates across some parts of the region rose over the latest recording period (the seven days to December 12).
In Wolverhampton the rate is 276.4 cases per 100,000 people, up 13 per cent from the previous recording period.
Stafford's rate is 243.3 per 100,000, a rise of 34 per cent; Cannock Chase saw a 23 per cent spike to 215.4 cases per 100,000; and in Birmingham the infection rate is 208.4, a rise of eight per cent.
Dudley saw a rise of three per cent to 204.3, while in South Staffordshire the infection rate went up by 16 per cent to 177 cases per 100,000 people.
Three areas saw rates fall over the period.
In Sandwell there was a five per cent drop to 202.2, while Walsall's rate fell six per cent to 185.
Lichfield has the region's lowest rate of 157.5 cases per 100,000 people – a fall of five per cent.
Covid deaths in the West Midlands have gone up for 11 consecutive weeks and now stand at their highest weekly total since late-May.
West Midlands Mayor Andy Street said: "Birmingham and the Black Country have made great progress, and last week it was in balance.
"But sadly the data has started to move against us again. We need to keep up the immense sacrifice and hard work, turn the trajectory around, and leave the Government no choice in future reviews."
Wolverhampton Council leader Ian Brookfield, said: "People have worked really hard to prevent the spread of Covid-19, but it still remains a clear and present danger.
“We managed to flatten the curve during the recent lockdown, but rates of infection are starting to creep up again. Hundreds of people are catching the virus each week and, tragically, it is continuing to claim lives.
"So, we all need to make sure we carry on doing everything we can to stop the transmission of Covid-19 by following the Tier 3 regulations.
"We're also urging families to act with extreme caution over the festive period, when the Government will be temporarily relaxing restrictions around household mixing.
"This will be a particularly dangerous time for us all, and so I'd ask you – for the sake of yourselves and your loved ones – to please not mix with others this Christmas, unless it’s absolutely necessary."
Michael Fabricant, the Conservative MP for Lichfield, said it was "nonsense" to lump all of Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent together when assigning tiers.
He said hospital usage was "very different" between the two halves of the county, with intensive care units in Stoke at near capacity while the Queen’s Hospital in Burton and other local hospitals in the south "have spare capacity".
“In practice, this has not affected the decision today," he added. "Both Lichfield District and Tamworth are well over 100 infections per 100,000 and surrounding areas are far higher.
“But there will come a time – perhaps near the end of January or sooner – when rates in Lichfield and southern Staffordshire will have fallen so far that the area should drop to Tier 2 despite higher levels in the north of the county. But it’s up to all of us to behave sensibly in the coming weeks to ensure that happens.
“Matt Hancock has told me there is no golden rule that Staffordshire should be treated as one unit and if and when infection rates allow, the county may well be divided into two or more areas for assigning tiers."
Boris Johnson has insisted that the tiers system is "the best way forward" for the country. Addressing the nation yesterday he urged people to "have a merry little Christmas - and I do mean little."
