Notts health chief says Tier 3 lockdown will protect the community

Public Health Director for Nottinghamshire Jonathan Gribbin said while he welcomed the move out of lockdown, people are reminded to exercise caution to work within the guidance.

In a statement, he said: “The Government has also announced an easement of the rules for a few days covering the Christmas holiday period to enable family members or friends to meet up.

"As in the rest of the UK people in Nottinghamshire are urged to exercise caution and to take care to work within the guidance about how to do this safely.

"In this way, we can maintain our momentum in lowering infection rates.

“The regulations are here to protect us all and are designed to keep the rates low; and the lower the number of cases get the more likely we are to move down through the tiers and start to feel like things can return to normal again.

“It is important that we all follow the new rules and work together to slow the spread of the virus in our communities. People in Nottingham have worked hard to reduce rates of Covid-19 and we have seen cases in the city fall below the national average.

“There is good news about the rollout of vaccines but it’s going to be a while before whole populations are protected from the virus. In the meantime, our local health and care services continue to experience severe pressures."

He also said that they will support the communities and businesses to adapt to the new rules.

Mansfield, and the rest of Nottinghamshire, has been placed under Tier 3 lockdown and the new set of restrictions will come into effect from 12.01am on Tuesday, December 2 as the national lockdown exits.

Last week the Government announced its ‘winter plan’, which it said would involve a tiered system like the one before the second lockdown, however confirmed that the restrictions would be tighter this time.

In Tier 3, the restrictions state that, among others, you must not meet socially indoors or in most outdoor places with anybody you do not live with, or who is not in your support bubble.