Sunderland in 'last chance saloon' to avoid lockdown return

Cllr Graeme Miller issued the stark warning after Secretary of State Matt Hancock announced new laws for seven parts of the region, including Wearside, restricting households from mixing in indoor settings with anyone they do not live with, unless they are in their support bubble.

The law, which applies from 00:01 on Wednesday, September 30, affects places such as pubs and restaurants and has brought much anger and confusion, with PM Boris Johnson forced to apologise after saying he ‘misspoke’ on the issue when asked to clarify things.

Cllr Miller said: "The way in which the restrictions were announced without any pre-warning and in advance of the regulations containing the details being published, was hugely frustrating.

“It left us in a position where we were unable to provide answers to the questions our residents quite rightly wanted to ask and did nothing to inspire public confidence.

“But it really is essential that we all do everything we can to follow the new rules as a city and region if we are to control the spread of the virus and get back to anywhere near the normality we all crave.

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"No-one wants to see a return to a full lockdown - that would be nothing short of catastrophic for residents and our business who have been through so much these last six months.

“But we really are in the last chance saloon if we want to avoid our city and our region going into the kind of lockdown we have seen elsewhere and that we all saw in April and May.

"And the only way to avoid this is for each and everyone to follow the rules. We know it's tough but its vital that we all carry on social distancing, wearing face coverings where appropriate and regularly washing our hands.

"It also means not mixing with anyone from outside your household or support bubble however hard this may be.”

The new law does not apply to COVID-secure schools and workplaces.

And the additional measures are also not expected to have any impact on the childcare exemption which allows grandparents and extended families to carry on looking after children to allow their parents to work.