PM confirms Covid tier 3 restrictions for Greater Manchester as talks fail and Johnson refuses specification on regional support

Peter Walker
The Guardian
Tue, 20 Oct 2020 12:49 UTC

© Oli Scariff/AFP/Getty Images

Graffiti in Greater Manchester as leaders are told to adopt experimental lockdown strategy.

Greater Manchester will be moved into the highest tier of coronavirus restrictions from midnight on Thursday, Boris Johnson has confirmed as he refused to say whether a £60m offer of support for the region remains on the table following failed negotiations.

Speaking at a Downing Street press conference, the prime minister did not specify how much support the region would get. Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, had sought £90m in support for businesses and staff affected by the measures, dropping the request to £65m, but ministers offered £60m and ended the talks without a deal.

Johnson said only that Greater Manchester would receive £22m, but this is believed to be for extra local test-and-trace measures. It is understood that talks will continue over the extra support amid reports No 10 might now reduce the £60m offer.

"Over the last 10 days we tried to get a joint approach with local leaders in Greater Manchester. Unfortunately, agreement wasn't reached. I do regret this. As I said last week, it would have been better, and we would have a better chance of defeating the virus if we work together."

Greater Manchester has become the latest area to be placed under tier 3 lockdown:

Tier 3 Very high alert level
Rochdale: 462 Cases per 100,000 people, highest in Greater Manchester
Manchester: 404
Liverpool: 568
Knowsley: 645, highest in England

Tier 2 High alert level
Birmingham: 203
Newcastle upon Tyne: 315
Nottingham: 641
Leicester: 216
Ealing: 144, highest in London

The rate is the number of cases per 100,000 in the seven days to 16 October, 2020.

He said the government had made a "generous and extensive offer to support Manchester's businesses", calling this proportionate to amounts given to Merseyside and Lancashire, the two regions to already go into tier 3 , under which pubs, bars and other businesses must close.

"The mayor didn't accept this unfortunately. And given the public health situation, I must now proceed with moving Greater Manchester to the very high alert level [tier 3]. Not to act would put Manchester's NHS and the lives of many of Manchester's residents at risk."

But under repeated questioning, Johnson declined to say how much money would be available, or whether Greater Manchester might now get less than the £60m offered to help businesses after this was turned down. Johnson said the "door remains open" for more talks with Burnham and other local leaders.

"In respect of funding of Greater Manchester, obviously we want to do more, but for the sake of fairness the deal has to be in line with the agreements we've reached with Lancashire and Merseyside."

Before Johnson spoke, the deputy chief medical officer for England, Jonathan Van-Tam, showed data slides illustrating a slight fall in new coronavirus case numbers among younger people, but a notable rise for older groups, particularly in the north-west of England.

It was the rise in cases among the over-60s "that really worries us most", Van-Tam said, adding that death numbers were set to rise.

He said even tougher restrictions might be needed: "We can't take the brake off on this, and we may have to push on the pedal a little harder to get it back under control."

Earlier, the communities secretary, Robert Jenrick, announced that talks had ended after several hours of fraught negotiations came down to a dispute over £5m in funding, or £1.78 for each resident.

Covid-19 in the UK

Daily cases: 26,688+6964 vs last week
Daily deaths: 191
Total deaths: 44,158
-----
England: Daily cases 22,948
Scotland: Daily cases1,739
Wales: Daily cases 962
NI: Daily cases1,039

UK data as published 20 October, 2020, national data as published 20 October, 2020. Note: This is the latest available from PHE. UK total is not always the sum of totals for individual countries. Low daily deaths at weekends is often a result of delayed reporting. Weekly change shows new daily cases compared to 7 days ago. About the data

At a press conference in Manchester afterwards, Burnham blamed the government for having "walked away" from negotiations, saying there had not been sufficient support offered to help local people amid the new restrictions.

Burnham said civic leaders were prepared to reduce their bid for financial support to £65m, which he called the "bare minimum to prevent a winter of real hardship", but that the government would only go to £60m.

Comment: Sheffield mayor commented on the new lockdown designation for his city and others:

South Yorkshire becomes the fourth region in England to be plunged into a tier-three lockdown, following Liverpool and Merseyside, Lancashire, and Greater Manchester. The move will see pubs, bars, casinos, and gyms shut along with a ban on socializing indoors and further tough restrictions on household mixing.

Scotland, as well, is extending restrictions:

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed that Scotland's two-week circuit breaking restrictions will be extended by a further seven days as advisers warn against reopening the hospitality sector on Monday.

The hospitality industry has been shut since October 9 and was intended to reopen on October 25. Under the new plans, pubs, bars and restaurants won't be able to reopen until November 2 at the earliest. The restriction against gathering in homes will also be extended by one week.

The first minister claimed there was reason for "cautious optimism". On Tuesday, 1,739 new Covid-19 infections were registered, with an additional 28 deaths - the highest daily number since May. Sturgeon will be publishing a tiered system of restrictions as well, replacing the current arrangement in the populated territory that includes Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Back on the continent, Madrid becomes the focus for Spain's restrictions:

Health Minister Salvador Illa explained that 21 days of "very strict" measures in Madrid have already brought down the number of coronavirus cases in the region, but a curfew is under consideration. Spain's Covid-19 death toll stands at 33,992, while there have been 974,449 confirmed infections in total, according to official government data on Monday. The Community of Madrid's President Isabel Díaz Ayuso has backed curfews across Spain, but said that she did not want another state of alarm. The region has been the worst affected in the country, with 281,388 confirmed Covid-19 cases as of Monday.

Czech Republic receives warning of a health system 'collapse':

The Czech government has ordered most shops to close, in a bid to prevent the country's health system from collapsing in November under the pressure of Covid-19. The new restrictions, in place from 6am on October 22 until November 3, will force all retail outlets to shut, apart from essential services such as supermarkets and pharmacies. Group sizes outdoors will also be limited to two people, with the exception of households or colleagues.

This fresh wave of measures comes as the Czech Republic is now suffering Europe's fastest-growing Covid-19 infection rate. On Tuesday the Ministry of Health reported a record 11,984 new cases of the virus, the country's highest daily total since the pandemic began. It was only on October 9 that more than 8,000 cases were registered in a single day for the first time.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis apologized for the effect of the measures on people's lives, but issued a stark warning that the health system was nearing breaking point. Measures would not be relaxed until the 'R' (reproduction) value decreases to 0.8, and said that a review of an extension to the country's state of emergency - currently in force until November 3 - would be held by October 30.

And for the good news: Poland is facing a restriction upgrade but no lockdown - according to its prime minister:

Poland registered a record in new confirmed COVID-19 infections. Mateusz Morawiecki said he would like the current "red zones" to be extended nationwide, starting Saturday. The capital, Warsaw, and other major cities are already designated "red zones," as are some 150 of Poland's 400 counties.

Morawiecki said earlier in the day that his government would pursue a "middle of the road" strategy of defending people's health and lives while also protecting the economy and jobs, but avoiding a full lockdown.

"Our strategy is to structure social and economic life in a way that will allow us to continue to learn, work and live without locking down the economy, but at the same time to break the transmission belt of infection."

With the return to schools and universities being linked with the recent sharp spike in infections, the government wants all primary schools to switch to remote learning, and plans to adopt a mixed system for older students.

Fourteen among Poland's more than 130 Roman Catholic bishops have been reported as infected.

There is overwhelming evidence that the coronavirus restrictions are increasing the rates of infection, versus containment and abatement. Protocols of 'rinse and repeat' guarantee brainwashed officials are unable to assimilate and utilize new information.