Isles of Scilly only part of UK left in tier 1, as Covid restrictions extended

Counties including Sussex and Oxfordshire will be escalated to tier 4 from Boxing Day

Health secretary Matt Hancock speaks at the government coronavirus press conference on 23 December, 2020.  (AP)

The Isles of Scilly will be the only area of England left under tier 1 restrictions from Boxing Day, after the government introduced tougher restrictions for many areas.

Health secretary Matt Hancock said the decision was necessary because of the rising number of Covid-19 infections, hospitalisations and deaths seen in recent weeks.

At a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Mr Hancock said England had recorded a 57 per rise in coronavirus infections over the past week, partly the result of the new highly infectious Covid-19 variant. 

There are currently an average of 1,909 hospitalisations a day in England, the highest rate since mid-April, he added.

Under the new tiering allocations, counties including Sussex, Oxfordshire and Suffolk will go into tier 4. This means that an additional six million people will be in the highest tier from 26 December, taking the total up to 24 million, which is around 43 per cent of England’s population. 

Meanwhile, places such as Bristol, Warrington, the Isle of Wight and the New Forest will be moved up to tier 3.

As Cornwall and Herefordshire will be placed under tier 2 after Christmas, only the Isles of Scilly will be left under the least restrictive tier 1 measures.

The health secretary justified the changes by saying that Covid-19 is spreading across much of England at a “dangerous rate”. 

Mr Hancock said: “Against this backdrop of rising infections, rising hospitalisations and rising numbers of people dying from coronavirus it is absolutely vital that we act.”

“We simply cannot have the kind of Christmas that we all yearn for,” he added. 

The health secretary also announced that another Covid-19 variant - this time from South Africa - had been identified in the UK, which he described as a “highly concerning” development.

Those found to be infected with this variant of the disease are now in quarantine, as are their close contacts.

As a precaution, the government has decided to ban travel from South Africa from Thursday morning and has asked all those who have been to the country in the past fortnight to go into quarantine.