West Yorkshire To Move Into Tier 3 Coronavirus Lockdown On Monday

Local leaders have warned there are already more Covid-19 patients in Leeds hospitals that there were during the first wave.
|

West Yorkshire is the latest place to be put under tier 3 lockdown restrictions amid surging Covid-19 cases. 

The new rules will come into force at 12.01am on Monday. 

The news was confirmed by Leeds City Council leader Judith Blake at a press conference on Thursday. 

It comes amid a second wave of coronavirus infections in the region, with local leaders warning that there are already 268 Covid-19 patients in Leeds’ hospitals – more than there were during the first surge in infections in spring. 

According to government data, there were 3,066 new cases in Leeds between October 20 and October 27, giving the area an infection rate of 386.6 per 100,000 people. 

But the city’s director of public health, Victoria Eaton, said that this figure had already risen to 416.7 per 100,000 people.

A support package of £46.6m has been negotiated with the government for the region, in addition to the tier 2 funding already agreed, Leeds City Council’s chief executive Tom Riordan told the meeting.  

He said there would also be an additional £12.7m for testing and tracing.