Yahoo News England lockdown: Where are the new local restrictions and what are the rules?
Parts of northern England have been hit with tightened lockdown measures overnight.
People from different households in Greater Manchester, parts of East Lancashire and West Yorkshire will be banned from meeting each other indoors from midnight, Matt Hancock said.
The UK health secretary said that “households gathering and not abiding by the social distancing rules” was one reason for the stricter measures, and that data had shown “an increasing rate of transmission in parts of northern England”.
The new restrictions apply to the whole of Greater Manchester, which includes the 10 local authority areas of Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan.
Parts of East Lancashire are affected including Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle (which includes the towns of Colne and Nelson), Rossendale.
Parts of West Yorkshire including Bradford, Calderdale (which includes the town of Halifax) and Kirklees (which includes the town of Huddersfield) are also impacted.
The same restrictions will apply in the city of Leicester, the health secretary tweeted, even as residents there are preparing to emerge from a much stricter ‘local lockdown’ imposed earlier this month.
Pubs, cafes and restaurants can reopen in Leicester from Monday.
3/4 The spread is largely due to households meeting and not abiding to social distancing. So from midnight tonight, people from different households will not be allowed to meet each other indoors in these areas. pic.twitter.com/Yy7wLbdh9V
— Matt Hancock (@MattHancock)
Mosques and other places of worship will also be allowed to reopen from Monday, with Leicester South MP Jon Ashworth urging Muslims to celebrate Eid al Adha from Thursday “with your own household at home”.
However, the Department for Health and Social Care said social gathering restrictions would remain in place for the city, and leisure centres, gyms and public swimming pools will remain closed.
Additional reporting by Press Association
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