London Tier 4: The measures and restrictions that could be needed if Covid infections continue to surge in the capital
| Published date | 21 December 2020 |
| Date | 21 December 2020 |
| Publication title | MyLondon (England) |
The concern with the mutation is that so far the new infection has been resilient to measures put in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Tier 3 restrictions that were in place in London and the South East were not enough to stem the infection rate of the new variant which is why Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the Government were forced to bring in Tier 4.
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Cases in London have jumped dramatically, with the capital forced to move from Tier 2 to Tier 3 to Tier 4 within a week and it is still not known whether the restrictions put in place in Tier 4 will be able to reduce the levels of infection in London and the South East.
During a press conference on Monday December 21 the Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance said he thought it would be "likely" that "measures will need to be increased in some places in due course and not reduced."
If it turns out that Tier 4 rules and restrictions fail to reduce infection levels over the next couple of weeks then new measures and restrictions will become a necessity.
Here are some of the additional measures and restrictions that could be used by the Government in the following weeks:
Schools and remote teaching
Mr Johnson and the Government have been adamant that children should not miss anymore education after months away from the classroom in the previous academic year.
However pupils are already returning to school slightly later in January and through a staggered process than originally planned so perhaps there will be a rethink in Government.
During the press conference on Monday the Prime Minister did not rule out that children may need to return to school when the circumstances allow rather than on a planned date.
Mandatory face masks outdoors
The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan was pushing for masks to be worn in busy public areas only two weeks ago and in countries...
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