South Yorkshire in northern England will move into Tier 3 on Saturday, which means tighter restrictions for local residents and closures of pubs and bars.
Labour MP and the mayor of Sheffield, Dan Jarvis, has been in talks with Downing Street to secure sufficient funding for his constituents faced with Tier 3 restrictions.
Following the negotiations, a sum of 41 million pounds has been announced as funding for South Yorkshire businesses that will have to close and for additional public health measures.
Rising infection levels of COVID-19 have severely affected the north of England, pushing the government to impose stricter measures.
Under Tier 3, pubs and bars “can only remain open where they operate as if they were a restaurant, which means serving substantial meals, like a main lunchtime or evening meal, and they may only serve alcohol as part of such a meal.”
Meanwhile, the capital’s hospitality industry still operates under a 10pm curfew, branded “nonsensical” by Labour MP and London mayor Sadiq Khan. Despite being on board with the restriction when it was first introduced, Khan criticized the ban on Tuesday:
“Right now, businesses need all the help they can get. The 10pm curfew should be scrapped immediately.”
London has been moved to Tier 2 “high” risk level end of last week. While the highest tier now includes areas such as South Yorkshire, Liverpool and Lancashire.