HEREFORDSHIRE will move into Tier 3 Covid-19 restrictions by midnight tonight.

After just a week under Tier 1 restrictions, Herefordshire was placed back into the stricter Tier 2 from Boxing Day as the Government said the picture in Herefordshire had "deteriorated", with case rates in all ages increasing by nearly 80 per cent in the week before the review on December 23.

It has now been decided that Herefordshire will be moved into Tier 3 restrictions from midnight.

RELATED NEWS:

The number of coronavirus cases reported in Herefordshire has risen by 84 over the past 24 hours, latest official figures show.

Hereford Times:

What will close:

Bars/eating in restaurants

Hospitality settings, such as bars (including shisha bars), pubs, cafes, restaurants, and social clubs must close except for takeaway, delivery and click and collect services. This includes restaurants and bars within hotels or member’s clubs.

Entertainment venues

• indoor play centres and areas, including inflatable parks and soft play centres and areas (other than for people who have a disability)

• trampolining parks (other than for elite athletes, people with a disability, supervised activities for children and for formal education or training purposes)

• casinos

• bingo halls

• bowling alleys

• indoor skating rinks (other than for elite athletes, professional dancers and choreographers, people with a disability, supervised activities for children and for formal education or training purposes)

• amusement arcades and adult gaming centres

• nightclubs and adult entertainment venues

• laser quests and escape rooms

• cinemas, theatres concert halls – other than drive-in events, broadcasting performances, training or rehearsal

• circuses

• snooker and pool halls (other than for elite athletes)

What will remain open

• outdoor tourism and entertainment venues can remain open subject to following the relevant rules and guidelines

• outdoor cinemas, theatres and concert venues can remain open for drive-in only, but must close at 11pm, other than for the purposes of concluding a performance which began before 10pm

• outdoor events, such as funfairs can continue to happen in line with COVID-secure guidance – other than large outdoor performance events (performances, shows and screenings), which must be drive-in only

• leisure and sports facilities may continue to stay open, but group exercise classes (including fitness and dance) should not go ahead

• retail premises may open, other than shops situated inside closed premises that cannot be accessed directly from the street – retail premises within accommodation may also stay open

• personal care and close contact services such as hairdressers and barbers, beauty salons, tattoo parlours, nail salons, spas and beauty services, saunas, steam rooms, massage parlours and tanning salons can remain open

• community centres and halls, and libraries can remain open. Group events should not take place, unless there’s a specific legal exemption to the social contact rules e.g. support groups, supervised activities for children

• recycling and waste centres, car parks, and public toilets may continue to stay open

Meeting others

Meeting indoors

You must not meet socially indoors with anybody you do not:

• live with

• have a support bubble with

Meeting outdoors

You must not meet socially (in a private garden or at most outdoor public venues),

However, you can see friends and family you do not live with (or do not have a support bubble with) in some outdoor public places, in a group of up to 6. This limit of 6 includes children of any age.

These outdoor public places include:

• parks, beaches, countryside accessible to the public, forests

• public gardens (whether or not you pay to enter them)

• allotments

• the grounds of a heritage site

• outdoor sports courts and facilities

• playgrounds

Travel

Where possible, you should stay local and avoid travelling outside your local area, meaning your village or town, or part of a city. People should continue to travel for reasons such as work, education, medical attention or if they have caring responsibilities.

You can still travel to venues that are open, or for reasons such as work or education, but you should reduce the number of journeys you make wherever possible.

You should still avoid travelling outside your tier 3 area other than for the reasons such as those above.