How tier two lockdown is affecting people of all ages
The new Coronavirus tier system implemented by the UK Government in England is being imposed across the country.
Split into tiers ‘one’ (medium), ‘two’ (high) and ‘three’ (very high) the Government aims to control the spread of the virus.
Along with much of the country, the city of Portsmouth is currently in tier one but due to the increase in cases, nearing 136 for every 100,000 people, the local authority is considering pushing for an increase to the second tier to curb the rise in infections on the island, particularly the spread amongst university students.
The UK Government has been swift to declare that the rise in infections in the past month has mostly been in the age group 18–24.
Boris Johnson and his colleagues worry that younger people are far more likely to be asymptomatic and will transmit the virus to older relatives and friends without even knowing, which could have fatal consequences.
Tougher tier two restrictions, which include no mixing of households inside, including hospitality venues, have been introduced across the 32 boroughs of London, Essex and the Midlands as well as other areas of the country.
I sat down with three ‘tier two’ residents to get their thoughts on the situation of the pandemic: Oliva Edwards, 20, from Nottingham, Paul Murray, 49, from London and Kathleen Anderson, 68, from Essex.
Many have argued that the rise in infections has been down to young people and their drunken antics at pubs, bars and newly ‘rebranded’ nightclubs.
Olivia Edwards, a student of the University of Nottingham, was quick to dismiss this. She said: “I think everyone is responsible for the rise in infections, I don’t think it can be defined as one group that is responsible… although people’s reintroduction to work and the kids going back to school doesn’t help controlling the spread.”
The new tier system has been criticised heavily by the Opposition and the media for being an unfair way of handling the virus and is creating a new ‘North-South’ divide, reminiscent of the 1980s.
“I think the tier systems are a good way for the Government to handle the spread regionally… but it only works if people follow the rules, which clearly isn’t happening,” said Olivia.
She added: “However, the 10pm curfew on hospitality venues isn’t going to solve this… the streets are becoming busier and jam packed at 10pm, whereas before it was a gradual flow of people leaving the venue.”
With a reported 4% of Coronavirus infections deriving from the hospitality industry, MPs have demanded that the Government provide detailed scientific evidence for the reason behind the 10pm curfew across the whole of England.
Paul Murray, 49, from London, said: “The curfew is killing businesses in that industry… people are far less likely to eat out and go for a drink because they know just when they’re getting started, they have to go home.”
He added: “The masks in pubs are a good idea but closing at 10pm is wrecking the industry — huge amounts of eateries and pubs were closing before the pandemic, now they’ll be more than ever; they just won’t survive.”
On October 17 the whole of London was put on tier two status but most boroughs in the capital remained at 60–80 cases per 100,000 compared to Nottingham’s 526 cases per 100,000.
“It just doesn’t seem fair… I’m concerned it’s becoming unnecessary now, we’re rather low compared to other tier two places,” said Paul.
These complaints are shared in other parts of England. Kathleen Anderson, from Steeple Bumpstead, Essex, said: “It’s quite low over here, we’re secluded from the rest of Essex as we live in a small village but we pay our tax to the county council therefore we are governed by them.
“Strangely, the highest cases in the county of Essex are in a place called Thurrock that’s currently in tier one as it’s not controlled by the county council… it’s ridiculous,” she added.
After being forced to enter the stricter tier three level of restrictions, the Manchester local authorities were given a £60 million support package from Number 10 to help ease the economic burden.
Kathleen is concerned that some authorities are only entering tier two and three for the support money from central government: “It just makes you think perhaps there is an ulterior motive, financially… cases are so low here in Essex compared to other tier two areas and the county is enormous.
“Why should we suffer for some people’s stupidity on the other side of the county — the next village isn’t in tier two but is only two minutes down the road with next to no cases, the same as our area of Essex.”
All three of the interviewees were in agreement that the only way out of this pandemic is to develop a vaccine.
The Oxford vaccine trials are going: “Exceedingly well.” according to Health Secretary Matt Hancock but for now the world will have to wait.
England will remain in this new three tier system for the foreseeable future and Boris Johnson has no plans for a Welsh style ‘Firebreak’ lockdown to quell the virus due to the vast size of the country and its population.
Currently there have been around 847,000 cases of Covid-19 in the UK with just under 45,000 deaths. With no vaccine in sight until early 2021 at the earliest, this may be the new normal.
