What tier is Cambridgeshire in? The new Covid-19 tiers for England in full

paul.brackley@iliffemedia.co.uk

Published: 13:41, 17 December 2020

| Updated: 11:33, 17 June 2022

December 30 update: Visit our latest story as more areas are moved to Tiers 3 and 4 from December 31

December 23 update: Visit our story as Cambridgeshire moves into Tier 4 from Boxing Day - and see all the areas moving tiers from December 26

December 19 update: Visit our story covering the areas moved into Tier 4, including Peterborough, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire

Cambridgeshire is now in Tier 4.

Confirmed daily cases of Covid-19 in England. Graphic: PA (43609450)

Cambridgeshire remained in Tier 2 on December 17 - but neighbouring Peterborough, along with the whole of Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire will move into Tier 3 of the government’s coronavirus restrictions, health secretary Matt Hancock announced.

The rules took effect from Saturday December 19, following the first full review of England’s tier allocations.

Cases in the East of England region are up two-thirds and hospital admissions up by nearly half in the last week.

But Suffolk and Norfolk will remain in Tier 2, along with Cambridgeshire.

Mr Hancock confirmed that areas moving into Tier 3 are:

Bedfordshire
Buckinghamshire
Berkshire
Peterborough
The whole of Hertfordshire
Surrey with the exception of Waverley
Hastings and Rother on the Kent border of East Sussex
Portsmouth, Gosport and Havant in Hampshire.

A few areas are moving down tiers:

Bristol and North Somerset will move from Tier 3 to Tier 2
Herefordshire will move from Tier 2 to Tier 1

It follows the decision to place all 32 London boroughs, and the City of London, into Tier 3, from Wednesday December 16.

In Essex, the following areas also moved to Tier 3 from December 16:

Basildon
Brentwood
Harlow
Epping Forest
Castle Point
Rochford
Maldon
Braintree
Chelmsford
Thurrock
Southend-on-Sea

In Hertfordshire, Broxbourne, Hertsmere, Watford and Three Rivers also moved into Tier 3 from Wednesday, and will be joined by the county’s other districts from Saturday.

Mr Hancock told MPs that the UK had “come so far” and “mustn’t blow it now”.

“As we enter the coldest months we must be vigilant and keep this virus under control,” he added.

“I know that Tier 3 measures are tough. But the best way for everyone to get out of them is to pull together, not just to follow the rules but do everything they possibly can to stop the spread of the virus.”

It was “vital that everyone sticks at it and does the right thing, especially over this Christmas period”, he said.

And he pointed out that because a third of people with coronavirus had no symptoms, it was a “silent disease” and “everyone, therefore, has a personal responsibility to play their part in keeping this pandemic under control”.

The changes come amid mounting concern about the prospect of a surge in cases following the easing of restrictions over the Christmas period.

Tier 3 restrictions mean pubs and restaurants will be takeaway only.

James Palmer, mayor of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, has said he is “disappointed” for Peterborough, and issued a warning against complacency for Cambridgeshire residents.

Covid-19 restrictions in England. Graphic: PA (43610199)

The latest figures from NHS Test and Trace showed:

A total of 109,167 people tested positive for Covid-19 in England at least once in the week to December 9, up 12 per cent on the previous week but below the peak of 168,535 recorded in the seven days to November 11.
Of the 96,631 people transferred to the Test and Trace system in the week to December 9, 86.7 per cent were reached and asked to provide details of recent close contacts.
Some 92.7 per cent of close contacts were reached, although due to changes in methodology those figures cannot be compared with rates from earlier in the pandemic.
Just 59.8 per cent of people who received an in-person test received their result within 24 hours, down from 64.9 per cent in the previous week and far short of the Prime Minister’s promise to get all results back within that timeframe.

England’s tier list in full as of Thursday December 17, with changes from Saturday December 19 marked in existing tiers

See our December 19 update

Tier 1: Medium alert

South East

Isle of Wight

South West

Cornwall

Isles of Scilly

Tier 2: High alert

East of England

Bedford, Central Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes (will move to Tier 3 from the beginning of Saturday 19 December)

Cambridgeshire
Some local authorities in Essex (Colchester, Tendring and Uttlesford)
Some local authorities in Hertfordshire (Dacorum, East Hertfordshire, North Hertfordshire, St Albans, Stevenage, Welwyn Hatfield) will move to Tier 3 from the beginning of Saturday 19 December
Peterborough (will move to Tier 3 from the beginning of Saturday 19 December)

Norfolk
Suffolk
East Midlands
Northamptonshire
Rutland
North West
Cumbria
Liverpool City Region
Warrington and Cheshire
South East
Brighton and Hove

Berkshire (currently all of Berkshire except Slough is in Tier 2. From the beginning of Saturday 19 December, all of Berkshire will be in Tier 3)
Buckinghamshire (will move to Tier 3 from the beginning of Saturday 19 December)
East Sussex (currently all of East Sussex is in Tier 2. From the beginning of Saturday 19 December, Hastings and Rother will move to Tier 3)
Hampshire (currently all of Hampshire is in Tier 2. From the beginning of Saturday 19 December, Gosport, Havant and Portsmouth will move to Tier 3)
Oxfordshire
Surrey (all local authorities, excluding Waverley, will move to Tier 3 from the beginning of Saturday 19 December)
West Sussex
South West
Bath and North East Somerset
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
Devon, including Plymouth and Torbay
Dorset
Gloucestershire (Cheltenham, Cotswold, Forest of Dean, Gloucester, Stroud and Tewkesbury)
Somerset (South Somerset, Somerset West and Taunton, Mendip and Sedgemoor)
Wiltshire and Swindon
West Midlands
Herefordshire (will move to Tier 1 from the beginning of Saturday 19 December)
Shropshire, and Telford and Wrekin
Worcestershire
Yorkshire
City of York
North Yorkshire

Tier 3: Very High alert

East of England

some local authorities in Essex (Basildon, Braintree, Brentwood, Castle Point, Chelmsford, Epping Forest, Harlow, Maldon, Rochford, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock)
some local authorities in Hertfordshire (Broxbourne, Hertsmere, Three Rivers and Watford)

East Midlands

Derby and Derbyshire
Leicester and Leicestershire

Lincolnshire

Nottingham and Nottinghamshire

London

All 32 boroughs plus the City of London

North East

North East Combined Authority (this area includes the local authorities of County Durham, Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland)
North of Tyne Combined Authority (this area includes the local authorities of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, North Tyneside and Northumberland)
Tees Valley Combined Authority (this area includes the local authorities of Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, and Stockton-on-Tees)

North West