Rishi Sunak insists people will ‘see a difference’ when England’s national lockdown ends next week.
His comments come despite the expectation most of the country will fall under tier two or above from December 2.
Later this morning health secretary Matt Hancock will outline which tier every local authority in England will fall under after the end of the national lockdown.
Commenting on this, the chancellor told Sky News: ‘This is all enormously frustrating, no one enjoys this.
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‘In all cases, we already know shops will be open everywhere, personal care, there’s relaxations on what can happen outdoors, communal worship, so all of those things will change – and changes to the curfew.
‘Whichever tier you’re in I think people will see a tangible change.
‘That said, things are obviously not normal and I can’t pretend that next week things are going to feel like they were before the spring.
‘We are going to have to live with these restrictions as we get through a difficult winter, but because of the hard work and the sacrifices – especially over the last four weeks – we’re in a much better place, and testing has hugely ramped up, and that gives us every confidence we can get through the winter in good shape.’
Health secretary Matt Hancock will announce the fates of each local authority in the Commons at 11.30am today. Boris Johnson will then host a press conference in Downing Street at 5pm this evening.
London and Liverpool are expected to avoid the toughest tier three restrictions, while it is thought that only a small number of rural areas will get away with the softest tier one rules.
Government sources said ‘at least one’ of the cities that was previously in tier three will drop to tier two, with reports suggesting it could be Liverpool after its infection rate dropped to 162 per 100,000 compared with 700 five weeks ago.
The capital is also expected to be placed into tier two, along with most authorities in the country, meaning mixing with other households indoors is still banned but pubs and restaurants can re-open for table service.
Reports suggested there would only be few areas in England placed in tier one, with parts of eastern England and remote areas in Cornwall and Cumbria are expected to be allocated the lightest measures.
Manchester is thought to remain in tier three measures, which will be tougher than last time with rules that are largely similar to those of the nation’s current lockdown.
A number of other areas with soaring infection rates are also expected to be plunged into tier three measures, including Hull, Swale and Thanet, which have the highest numbers in the country.
Under tier three restrictions mixing with other households indoors is banned, while pubs and restaurants can only offer takeaway and delivery services. But non-essential shops can reopen along with hairdressers and gyms.
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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/11/26/people-under-strictest-tiers-will-see-a-difference-to-covid-lockdown-13657433/