Leeds Tier 3 lockdown cancelled: How national lockdown affects Leeds Tier 3 lockdown

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a raft of 'strict new measures' on Saturday evening that he said was aimed at tackling rising Covid infection rates.

-> Leeds reacts as Boris Johnson makes speechThe move comes just days after Tier 3 lockdown was announced for Leeds. Although the measures are not being called national lockdown or Tier 4, the new restrictions are effectively in line with a new national lockdown.

How will the measures affect Leeds Tier 3 lockdown?

-Leeds Tier 3 lockdown was set to begin on Monday at 0.01am. Leeds will NOT enter Tier 3 lockdown on Monday after all.

The new national lockdown measures are:

-The tougher package of national measures will be time limited

-They will come into effect 00.01 Thursday and seek to end on December 2 but that will depend on infection rates-You will be able to meet one person outside your household

-People can only leave home for specific reasons and they include for education, work if you cannot work from home, for exercise and recreation outdoors, medical reasons, to escape -injury or harm, to shop for food and essentials and to provide care for vulnerable people.

-Workplaces should stay open where people cannot work from home, eg construction and manufacturing.

-Non-essential shops and leisure venues will all be closed, click and collect can continue and essential shops will remain open

-Pubs, bars and restaurants must also close except for takeaway and delivery services

-Support bubbles remain intact

-Schools, colleges, and universities will remain open

Why are these measures being brought in?

Prime Minister Boris Johnson chaired cabinet this afternoon where this package of measures was agreed, the PM has also spoken with the leader of the opposition Sir Keir Starmer and he has spoken with the Speaker and will be making a statement to parliament on Monday afternoon, with a vote on the measures by MPs to follow on Wednesday.

Cabinet was told that the incidence rate for Covid is growing and the NHS is under increasing pressure. To put that into context, the ONS estimate an average of 568,100 people or 1 in 100 have Covid-19.

On current trajectory SPI-M (Govt scientists) have assessed the NHS will surpass its fixed and surge bed capacity during the first week in Dec even after non-emergency procedures are cancelled.

The growth in the virus is national, worse in the North but growing everywhere.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a raft of 'strict new measures' on Saturday evening that he said was aimed at tackling rising Covid infection rates.

He said: "No responsible PM can ignore the message of those figures.

"We know the cost of these restrictions, the impact on jobs, livelihoods and people's mental health. Nobody wants to be imposing these measures anywhere.

"I want to thank the millions of people who have been putting up with these restrictions in their areas for so long. I want to thank local leaders who have stepped up and local communities. The R has been kept lower than it otherwise would have been. We will continue to adopt a pragmatic and local approach in the months ahead.

"But we have also seen we have got to be humbled in the face of nature. The virus is spreading even faster than the worst case scenario. Unless we act we could see death running in this country at several thousand a day and a mortality, alas, bigger than we saw in April. It's now clear that the current projections mean hospitals in the south west will run out of capacity in a matter of weeks unless we act. The overrunning of the NHS would be a disaster.

"The huge exponential growth in patients would mean that doctors and nurses would be forced to choose who to treat, who would get oxygen and who wouldn't. Who would live and who would die. The sheer weight of Covid demand would mean depriving millions of patients and non-Covid patients the care that they need.

"If we let the lines on that graph grow in the way that they could, the risk is that for the first time in our lives the NHS will not be there for us and our families. Even if I could double capacity overnight, it still would not be enough. Because the virus is doubling faster than we can conceivably add capacity. Now is the time to take action because there is no alternative."