Coronavirus lockdown rules in Leciester and large parts of northern England will remain until at least next week, the government has announced.
Leicester was due to have restrictions – which include a ban on two households meeting indoors – reviewed by today after a local outbreak began to die down.
But today the government announced the local measures will not end until next week at the earliest.
The easing of lockdown in the rest of England tomorrow – which includes restarting brow treatments and small wedding receptions – won’t happen in Leicester either.
The same goes for Greater Manchester and parts of Lancashire and West Yorkshire.
However, today’s announcement is less of a surprise in those areas, because they were only due to be reviewed next Wednesday anyway.
Health Minister Edward Argar said: “I’d like to thank everyone in Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, East Lancashire and Leicester for their continued patience in following these vital rules put in place to tackle the spread of the disease – I know it hasn’t been easy.
“We will review the measures again next week as part of our ongoing surveillance and monitoring of the latest data.
“It is essential we all remain vigilant, and I urge everyone in these areas to continue to follow the rules – wash your hands regularly, follow social distancing, get yourself a free test as soon as you get any symptoms, and isolate if NHS Test and Trace tells you to.”
