Andrew has provided the following update following the East Riding and North Lincolnshire being placed in Tier 3:
New Tier Restrictions
As I suggested in my post yesterday our area is being placed in the highest level of restrictions from next Wednesday, following the ending of the national lockdown. This will be reviewed after 2 weeks.
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What does this mean?
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In short this is my understanding of Tier 3 for us -
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- Gyms, swimming pools, golf clubs and leisure centres can reopen, but organised classes and organised indoor sport won't be allowed, except for disabled groups. Some outdoor organised sport and fitness classes can go ahead,
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- Non-essential shops can re-open.
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- Hairdressers and other personal care services can reopen.
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- Hospitality settings have to remain closed except for take out. Indoor attractions like museums, cinemas remain closed.
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- Household mixing is not allowed, but the same exemptions for childcare, support bubbles, caring responsibilities etc continue.
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- Driving lessons and tests can resume too.
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- Weddings ceremonies can go ahead again with 15 people max but with no receptions.
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- Church services etc and communal worship can start again, subject to the social contact rules.
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You can find further information on the gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/local-restriction-tiers-what-you-need-to-know#very-high-alert
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Why this geography?
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All four Humber authorities (East Riding, North Lincs, North East Lincs and Hull) will be placed into Tier 3, alongside our neighbours in Lincolnshire County Council area and in South Yorkshire.
Some people have asked why the four Humber authorities are linked today and this is quite simple. Most people who live in the four Humber authority areas either work in the Council area they live in or one of the neighbouring Council areas in the Humber - this is called the travel to work area.
Similarly, our hospital services are organised largely on a sub-regional basis with two hospital trusts, one on the south bank and one on the north bank, but with many specialist services being provided on a Humber basis, such as cancer care from Castle Hill etc. Most patients in our area are treated at one of the hospitals which is either in their own local authority area or in one of the neighbouring Humber Council areas. A Goole cancer patient might get their care at Castle Hill, or a North Lincs resident might get their knee op at Goole etc, or a Grimsby (NE LIncs Council area) stroke patient might get their care in Scunthorpe (North Lincs Council area) etc etc.
In the same way, the public health functions which the Councils are each responsible for, co-ordinate on a sub-regional basis.
That's not to say that people don't get treatment elsewhere or work elsewhere as many do, but the vast mass is on a sub-regional basis.
It is somewhat academic given that our neighbours in Lincs County Council area and in Doncaster are also in Tier 3 too. Given the scale of the infection rate in recent weeks in our area, it is not at this stage possible to take a more localised Council by Council approach.
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Why Tier 3?
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Everytime there is a decision to add restrictions or loosen restrictions, I get a slew of emails demanding a tougher lockdown and a slew of emails demanding an end to lockdown. There are a lot of experts on social media these days!
I want this over as quickly as possible and I share many of the arguments about personal freedoms and liberties and of course the impact on the economy. However, I also keep in close contact with the local hospitals and the NHS and our local public health teams. I cannot ignore their warnings.
We have seen a very deteriorating situation in local hospitals in recent weeks as infection rates in our area have been well above the national average, and in some places among some of the highest in the country. The rolling data for Goole North and Howden for example shows incredibly high rates. Higher than most of the rest of the region.
There is not a country on the planet that has been able to successfully limit the spread of the virus by measures other than restrictions of the kind we have in the UK - similar and agreed by all four different UK governments of different political persuasions I should add.
Be it new restrictions imposed in Canada this week, or in France or in Belgium or in many US states, the approach the UK is taking is the same as in other countries.
I hate it and I want it to end as soon as possible, but we need to be under no doubt that the situation in local hospitals and in the social care sector has been worsening locally. More deaths, more patients coming in to hospital and because the virus is spreading more widely in the community, more NHS staff, social care staff and essential workers getting the virus and having to take time off work.
Let me also say, those who point out Covid has left to deteriorating health outcomes are absolutely right. It has and that is why we have tried to balance restrictions. But turning off Covid restrictions now does not mean that the NHS would suddenly get back to doing its normal work again. It would mean more community transmission of the virus resulting in even more hospitalisations, even more NHS workers off ill with the virus and even less NHS care. That is why nobody in the NHS is demanding an end to these restrictions or a change of approach.
The good news is that rates have stabilised and fallen somewhat recently but they remain too high. We need to get these down and get these restrictions off.
Those who pretend there is some wonderful solution just waiting to be plucked off the shelf which will simultaneously get us all back to normal whilst also reducing the rate of infections, hospitalisations, deaths etc are engaging in total fantasy.
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The Future?
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The recent news on vaccines, of which the UK has been a pioneer and will be one of the first developed nations to get the vaccine out to its people - something we forget as we seem to be consumed by a self-loathing as a nation with a media intent on perpetuating the myth that all the problems of the pandemic are unique to Britain.
They are not and the vaccine news is positive and offers a way out of this in the coming weeks and months.
There is a long way to go yet but I can assure you I want us out of these restrictions as quickly as possible. I despise the fact that governments are having to tell their people who they can mix with and what they can do or where they can go.
I hate it all but I am also not going to ignore the facts on the ground, or believe some conspiracy theory on the website or some scientist on the fringes of the scientific community.
The approach taken in the UK is one shared with pretty much every other country on the planet. It is inline with the overwhelming body of scientific and medical opinion here in the UK and globally.
We can all do our bit and get us out this Tier as quickly as possibl
