Surrey enters Tier 4 lockdown restrictions from Sunday 20 December

The majority of Surrey will face tighter Tier 4 COVID restrictions from midnight tonight, following today’s announcement from the Prime Minster.

In order to stop the spread of COVID-19 that is growing in the South East of England, all areas of Surrey apart from Waverley, will be placed into Tier 4.

The decision is reflective of areas that had been placed in Tier 3 earlier this week, and is based on a number of indicators, including the overall infection rate, the rate in the over 60s, and the pressure on the NHS.

The new measures are closely aligned to the national November restrictions, and mean:

• no household mixing inside (apart from within a support bubble)

• residents must only meet with a maximum of one other person from another household outdoors

• all non-essential shops, personal care, indoor gyms as well as hospitality venues closed

The planned easing of restrictions for five days over Christmas has been cancelled for these areas entirely.

For Waverley, which is currently in Tier 2, Christmas bubble rules will now apply for Christmas Day only.

For full restrictions visit www.gov.uk/coronavirus.

Tim Oliver, Leader of Surrey County Council, said: “I know this will come as a blow to residents and businesses across Surrey, but it is absolutely necessary that we act fast to save lives.

“We are essentially heading back into the lockdown restrictions the whole country was under in November, and unfortunately, we will not be having the Christmas that we all hoped for.

“It is tough to take, after a really difficult year but we must keep up the fight. Let’s not let our guard down, let’s all play our part and keep Surrey safe.

“Surrey’s Local Resilience Forum, including the county council, will continue our work to ensure that help is available for those in need and our Public Health team will continue to monitor local data every single day to track this virus and stop the spread.

“We will continue to support our NHS colleagues in rolling out the vaccine as fast as possible across Surrey – this is our hope of returning to normal life and we will do everything we can to make this happen.”

Further guidance and support available can be found at www.surreycc.gov.uk/coronavirus

Any residents that require support should call Surrey’s Community Helpline on 0300 200 1008 (Monday to Friday: 9am to 5pm / SMS: 0786 0053 465 for Deaf and hearing impaired residents only Monday to Friday: 9am to 5pm).

All areas of Surrey apart from Waverley had entered Tier 3 COVID alert level on Saturday 19 December, this will now move up to Tier 4.

The Tiers are due to be reviewed on 30th December.