Sunderland City Council given 'no indication' from Government which tier the city will be in after lockdown

City leaders have ‘no indication’ what restrictions they will face when revised coronavirus restrictions are unveiled later today.

Local authority bosses across the country are waiting to find out which tier they will be placed in when the national lockdown is relaxed from December 2.

But following warnings there would be ‘no debate’ with ministers on the latest set of rules to be imposed on areas, health chiefs have hinted Wearside could be facing some of the tougher guidelines.

“Generally, across the whole of the North East, infection rates have come down, but we remain higher than the England average of about 200 per 100,000,” said Gerry Taylor, executive director of public health and integrated commissioning at Sunderland City Council.

“The government is due to announce where the North East and Sunderland will be in terms of the new tier system which comes into place on December 2.

“We haven’t been given an indication of what tier that will be yet, but our rate of cases is still fairly high.”

Taylor was speaking at yesterday’s (Wednesday, November 25) meeting of the city council’s Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee, which was held by videolink and broadcast via YouTube.

Sunderland’s seven-day rate of COVID-19 infections up to November 20 stood at 297.4 per 100,000 – down from a peak of 423.8 the week before.

The current national restrictions are due to end on Wednesday, December 2, and be replaced by a three-tier system.

As a minimum, the previous ‘rule of six’ on socialising would be reintroduced, with anyone living in the lowest level, tier one, or ‘medium alert’, allowed to meet others inside and outside.

Tier two, ‘high alert’, would restrict gatherings to outdoors only, while tier three, ‘very high alert’, would ban all socialising with anyone outside a household or support bubble.

Taylor added: “We did see an increase in cases at about the same time the national lockdown came into effect on November 5.

“We did have to make some adjustments, but we have started to see, over the last week, a good decrease in the number of cases.”

Support your Echo and become a subscriber today. Enjoy unlimited access to local news, the latest on SAFC and new puzzles every day. With a digital subscription, you can see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Click here to subscribe.