COVID-19: Solihull Remains in Tier 3
On Thursday 17th December 2020, the government announced that Solihull will remain in Tier 3 (Very High Alert). Solihull remains in Tier 3 because “de-escalating now will likely lead to rising case numbers, and risks rapid re-escalation at, or in advance of, the next review point”, according to the government.
The tiers will continue to be reviewed every two weeks, with the next decision being made on the 30th December 2020. As set out in the government’s COVID-19 winter plan, there are 5 indicators which guide the decisions made for any given area, alongside consideration of ‘human geographies’ like travel patterns.
These are:
- case detection rates in all age groups
- case detection rates in the over 60s
- the rate at which cases are rising or falling
- positivity rate (the number of positive cases detected as a percentage of tests taken)
- pressure on the NHS
Tier 3 (Very High Alert) is for areas with a very high or very rapidly rising level of infections, where tighter restrictions are in place. From Wednesday 2nd December there will be:
- No mixing indoors.
- People can only meet outdoors in limited places such as parks and public gardens (Rule of six applies).
- Pubs and restaurants must close, with the exception of takeaway sales.
The full information about the restrictions in this tier can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/local-restriction-tiers-what-you-need-to-know#very-high-alert