New North East restrictions: What you can and can't do
New restrictions have been put in place in the North East as coronavirus cases rise.
There's new restrictions in the North East as coronavirus cases rise which means you won't be able to socialise with people outside your house or support bubble.
The restrictions apply to almost 2 million people and covers Newcastle, Northumberland, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Gateshead, County Durham and Sunderland – which have all seen rises in cases.
The new restrictions come into place from midnight tonight (Thursday 17 Sep).
We've got the full list of what the changes are and what is and isn't allowed under the new rules:
Who can you meet up with?
The temporary measures mean you can no longer socialise with people from outside your household or support bubble.
That means the 'rule of six' no longer applies in these areas as you should stay within your household.
You can still socialise with anyone within your household or support bubble.
A support bubble is where a household with one adult joins with another household (on an exclusive basis). Households within a bubble can still visit each other, stay overnight, and visit public places together.
Earlier closing for pubs
All hospitality and leisure venues will have to close at 10pm and cannot open before 5am.
The idea is to cut down potential spread from people on a night out.
Table Service
Bars and restaurants will now have to provide table service only under the new rules.
Work and Education
The new restrictions for the North East are guidelines for socialising, therefore you can still go to work and children can go to school.
Social distancing should be adhered to within workplaces
When can people come into your home
People can still come inside your home or garden for specific purposes set out in law:
- Where everyone in the gathering lives together or is in the same support bubble
- To attend a birth at the mother’s request
- To visit a person who is dying (the visitor can be someone the dying person lives with, a close family member, friend or, if none of those is visiting, anyone else)
- To fulfil a legal obligation
- For work purposes, or for the provision of voluntary or charitable services
- For the purposes of education or training
- For the purposes of childcare provided by a registered provider
- To provide emergency assistance
- To enable one or more persons in the gathering to avoid injury or illness or to escape a risk of harm
- To facilitate a house move
- To provide care or assistance to a vulnerable person
- To continue existing arrangements for access to, and contact between, parents and children where the children do not live in the same household as their parents, or one of their parents.
Local Reaction
Newcastle City Council Leader has been keen to point out that this is not another lockdown, tweeting that any restrictions putting in place would be to avoid a full lockdown
Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said measures will come into place at midnight.
He told ITV’s Peston show: “The number of cases has been rising rapidly in many parts of the country, but in particular in the North East, and so a decision has been made to impose further restrictions there.”
Will there be a full lockdown?
Health Minister Edward Argar has played down reports that the Government is considering a two-week national lockdown as coronavirus cases continue to rise.
“It is not something I have seen within the department,” he told Sky News.
“The Prime Minister has been very clear on this. He doesn’t want to see another national lockdown. He wants to see people abiding by the regulations and making the local lockdowns work.”
With further lockdowns expected to be announced in North East England, Mr Argar said the region was seeing a spike in cases similar to that in the North West.
“In the North East we are seeing a spike in infections. It is exactly what we have seen in the North West. We monitor that rate. Where we need to, we step in and take action,” he said.
Mr Argar said that in the North West, the rise had been driven in part by people not adhering to the social distancing requirements.
“Obviously a nighttime economy will fuel that with people having been out late into the evening.”
Coronavirus cases rising in the North East
The most recent figures show Newcastle to have recorded a sharp increase in its weekly rate, up from 51.2 to 64.1, with 194 new cases in the seven days to September 13.
Where else in the UK has Coronavirus restrictions?
The North East restrictions come after local measures in other areas of the UK.
Birmingham, Sandwell and Solihull in the Midlands have local restrictions as has Bolton, Blackburn, Oldham and Leicester.