after a surge in the number of Covid-19 cases.Birminghamlockdown rules tightened
As of Tuesday, separated families in the three West Midlands Council areas, which collectively have a population of more than 1.6 million, will no longer be able to mix in private homes or gardens.
The restrictions won't affect schools, public transportation or workplaces, nor will they prevent groups of six people from different families from sitting together in bars and restaurants.
The move comes after two days of discussions between the government, regional health leaders and local authorities after the city's latest seven-day infection rate showed 78.2 cases per 100,000 people, with 892 infections in the period through September 8. Birmingham has the third-highest infection rate in England, after Bolton and Sunderland.
Meanwhile, the Scottish government announced that restrictions on private indoor gatherings throughout western Scotland had been extended to Lanarkshire.
The restrictions will apply as of midnight Friday and will be the same as they already apply for more than 1.1 million people living in Glasgow, East Renfrewshire, Renfrewshire, East Dunbartonshire and West Dunbartonshire.
The restrictions mean that people should not meet other family members inside their homes, either in affected local authority areas or anywhere else. Members of up to two families, and up to a maximum of six people, may continue to meet outdoors, including in parks and hospitality spaces, provided all existing instructions are followed.
Public health officials in Liverpool said the city has been added to the government's watchlist of areas of concern after a spike in confirmed cases. A total of 303 people have been diagnosed with the virus in the past seven days - double the number recorded in the previous week and four times the previous week.
West Midlands Mayor Andy Street announced a ban on family mixing in Birmingham, Sandwell and Solihull in a briefing on Friday, describing it as a "national prohibition of interference on people who come into contact with people outside their homes."
The ban will officially go into effect on Tuesday, September 15, but Street is urging the public to start abiding immediately.
“The restrictions being introduced are designed to directly address the causes of transmission,” Street said. It is vital that we all do our best to get this horrific virus under control, and make sure that our efforts over the past few months are not wasted. If we escalate our fight against this virus by the suggested methods, we can continue to gradually return to other aspects of normal life.
“If we don't do this now, we risk more loss of life, even more drastic measures in the future, and more job losses. So, while not seeing family and friends is difficult, we must think about them, our responsibility towards them, and towards society. The whole.
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