Dorset's two local authority areas have been put in the lowest category under the new national tiered coronavirus rules system.
Covering the entirety of England, the new regulations were announced by prime minister Boris Johnson on Monday who said the “simplified” ranking approach was needed considering the rising number of infections.
Speaking before official confirmation had been given, a spokesman for Public Health Dorset said given the set thresholds and current case numbers in the county, it “would be in the lowest (“medium”) tier”.
Announced in the House of Commons on Monday afternoon, the new system will replace the approach that had been used up until now.
Three tiers – medium, high and very high – will be brought in with the lowest being made up of the existing English rules, including the “rule of six” and the 10pm curfew.
Liverpool will come under the strictest “very high” regulations from Wednesday in a bid to curb rising infections and will involve the closure of pubs, gyms and leisure centres.
A spokesman for Public Health Dorset, which is overseeing much of the coronavirus response in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset council areas, said this would be the case in the county too.
“There hasn’t been any official confirmation yet but given the thresholds and our current levels we would be in the lowest ‘medium’ tier,” they said.
Here is a breakdown of the areas under each level of the new alert system.
Very high:
Liverpool City Region
– Liverpool
– Knowsley
– Wirral
– St Helens
– Sefton
– Halton
High:
Cheshire
– Cheshire West and Chester
– Cheshire East
Greater Manchester
– Manchester
– Bolton
– Bury
– Stockport
– Tameside
– Trafford
– Wigan
– Salford
– Rochdale
– Oldham
Warrington
– Warrington
Derbyshire
– High Peak – the wards of: Tintwistle, Padfield, Dinting, St John’s, Old Glossop, Whitfield, Simmondley, Gamesley, Howard Town, Hadfield South and Hadfield North
Lancashire
– Lancashire
– Blackpool
– Preston
– Blackburn with Darwen
– Burnley
West Yorkshire
– Leeds
– Bradford
– Kirklees
– Calderdale
– Wakefield
South Yorkshire
– Barnsley
– Rotherham
– Doncaster
– Sheffield
North East
– Newcastle
– South Tyneside
– North Tyneside
– Gateshead
– Sunderland
– Durham
– Northumberland
Tees Valley
– Middlesbrough
– Redcar and Cleveland
– Stockton-on-Tees
– Darlington
– Hartlepool
West Midlands
– Birmingham
– Sandwell
– Solihull
– Wolverhampton
– Walsall
Leicester
– Leicester
– Oadby and Wigston
Nottingham
– Nottinghamshire
– Nottingham City
Medium:
All other areas in England.
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