'Rates are rising in Sunderland, please stay at home' - New Year's Eve plea from council health boss

Sunderland, along with the six other council areas in the North East region, was been placed into Tier 4 restrictions from one minute after midnight on the morning of December 31 following an announcement in the House of Commons.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said it was necessary to place more areas under the tightest Tier 4 measures to stem the spread of the virus.

Around three quarters of the population of England are currently living under the ‘Stay at home’ Tier 4 rules which prohibit household mixing unless in a support bubble or a few other strict exemptions.

Anyone found to be outside of their home without a ‘reasonable excuse’ could face a police fine.

And on New Year’s Eve Gerry Taylor, executive director of public health and integrated commissioning at Sunderland City Council urged people to stay at home, warning that cases are on the rise in the city.

He said: “We are at the end of a very difficult year and, as we note and pay tribute to all the good work over 2020, there is still more to do.

“Rates are currently rising in Sunderland and we all still need to take extra care on social distancing, limiting the number of people we meet, practising the very best hand hygiene, and wearing face coverings where required.

"You cannot now meet other people indoors, unless you live with them or if they are part of your support bubble.

“Please stay safe and only mark the New Year with your household or your support bubble.”

The ‘stay at home’ message has also been emphasized in a joint statement from public health directors in all the LA7 council areas (Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle, Northumberland, North Tyneside, South Tyneside and Sunderland).

The statement said: “We urge everyone in the region to celebrate New Year’s Eve at home – not mixing households.

“The virus thrives in crowds, it transmits quickly between people and mixing will put more and more communities at risk.

“The new variant of the virus is spreading rapidly across the nation and putting our NHS under serious pressure. Moving to Tier 4 now is the right thing to do is we are to avoid overburdening the services that each of us and our loved ones might need.

“This year has been incredibly difficult for all of us, but especially for those who have lost loved ones and livelihoods.

“Our day-to-day lives have changed in ways we would not have imagined. I would like to thank everyone who has done their bit in protecting the vulnerable people in our region and urge everyone to continue with those efforts and follow the Tier 4 restrictions in full.

“Only by sticking to these guidelines, observing good hand hygiene and social distancing can we stave off the virus while pressing ahead with rapid roll out of vaccines, which offer real hope that life will return to some level of normality in 2021.

“Until then we must do everything we can to protect ourselves, our families, friends and the most vulnerable communities across the North East.”

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