The restrictions will apply in London, Kent, Essex, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Surrey, Gosport, Havant, Portsmouth, Rother and Hastings, all of which were previously in tier 3. 'Although the lockdown was enough to bring cases down elsewhere, it was not enough to stop this strain from spreading rapidly. 'Worse than that, we are starting from a very high incidence already with hospitals stretched and NHS staff under strain. Cases in West Berkshire rose by 149 per cent, from 149 cases to 244, while infections in Rother spiked by 123 per cent. The Office for National Statistics estimated that 567,300 people had Covid last week, up from 481,500 seven days earlier.

Source: Daily Mail December 19, 2020 23:02 UTC