London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Sep 01, 2025

Just 2,000 people in England not living under tier 3 or 4 rules

Just 2,000 people in England not living under tier 3 or 4 rules

Just 2,000 people in England will have the freedom to go to the pub from tomorrow as all bar one part of the country is plunged into tier three and four restrictions.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock put a further 20 million people under the toughest coronavirus curbs today.

No areas will be in tier two while just one area, the Isles of Scilly, will be in tier one.

The coastal location has a population of just over 2,000 and has been in tier one since the system was introduced.

In a huge blow to the hospitality industry it means all pubs except those in Scilly will be forced to close from tonight, though they can open as takeaways.

Mr Hancock said the draconian measures were ‘absolutely necessary’ to bring down rising hospital admissions fuelled by a more infectious strain of the virus spreading across the country.

A total of 44 million people will be in tier four from New Years Eve, or 78% of the population of England, while 22% will be living under tier three rules.

Mr Hancock said: ‘I know that tier three and four measures place a significant burden on people, and especially on businesses affected, but I am afraid it is absolutely necessary because of the number of cases that we’ve seen.’

The UK has recorded 981 deaths in the past 24 hours, the highest figure since April. There are now more patients in hospital than during the Spring peak, with doctors warning ICU wards are filling up and hospitals are running out of oxygen.




Ambulances were queuing outside hospitals in London and Birmingham last night as hospitals reached breaking point, while ICUs in the capital have asked major hospitals in Yorkshire to take patients in need of intensive care.

‘The threat to life from this virus is real, and the pressures on the NHS is real too,’ Mr Hancock said.

Areas being moved up to tier four include all of the North East, Cumbria, Cheshire, Warrington, Greater Manchester and Lancashire.

They will be joined by most of the West Midlands and all of the East Midlands, except Rutland, as well as areas in the South-East not already under the stay-at-home orders.

Meanwhille Cornwall, Bath, North East Somerset, Liverpool and North Yorkshire will all be put under tier three.


Three quarters of England will be under tier four from tomorrow


Under the rules of tier four, non-essential shops, all hospitality venues, gyms and leisure centres have to close and people can only leave their homes for essential reasons.

In tier three, gyms, hairdressers and non-essential shops can stay open and groups of up to six can meet outside.

The latest measures follow the approval of a Covid vaccine from Oxford University and AstraZeneca, with the first jabs expected to be given on Monday.

Boris Johnson has said he hopes the UK will be able to relax Covid restrictions before April, so long as the tier system and vaccines help ‘drive down the virus’.

Speaking to ITV’s Robert Peston about how long the new rules will last he said: ‘I am not going to give a deadline, but you’ve heard what I’ve said about April, that is the terminus ante quem, if, and it’s a big if, the tiering can work to bring the virus under control.

‘If the vaccine rollout proceeds fast enough and we are able to inoculate, to protect those millions talked about, those vulnerable groups, then there is a world in which that date can be brought forward by who knows how many weeks. But that’s obviously what we’re aiming for.’

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
Federal Reserve Independence Questioned Amid Trump’s Push to Reshape Central Bank
British Politics Faces Tumultuous Autumn After Summer of Rebellions and Rising Farage Momentum
US Appeals Court Rules Against Most Trump-Era Tariffs
UK Sought Broad Access to Apple Users’ Data, Court Filing Reveals
UK Bank Shares Dive Over Potential Tax on Sector
Germany’s Auto Industry Sheds 51,500 Jobs in First Half of 2025 Amid Deepening Crisis
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Argentine President Javier Milei Evacuated After Stones Thrown During Campaign Event
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Starmer Should Back Away from ECHR, Says Jack Straw
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
Chinese AI Chipmaker Cambricon Posts Record Profit as Beijing Pushes Pivot from Nvidia
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Welcome to The Definition of Insanity: Germany Edition
Just a reminder, this is Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris.
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
×