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Liverpool Echo

National

Joseph Wilkes & Jenny Kirkham

Latest coronavirus watch list as 38 areas added to worrying register

The UK's coronavirus watch list has been updated with 38 more areas being added to the worrying register.

All London boroughs have now also been added to the list while the north remains the hardest hit places with Leeds, Stockport, Wigan and Blackpool now escalated to the more serious "areas of intervention".

And according to Mirror Online, it is estimated that roughly 17m Brits are currently living under some manner of coronavirus restrictions.

New additions Wigan and Blackpool have jumped straight onto the areas of intervention list, as cases rise rapidly.

Every London borough is now an "area of concern".

Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, Darlington, Redcar and Cleveland - Teesside - have been escalated to "areas of enhanced support".

There are now 92 places on the Government's watchlist, as four have been removed from last week.

The new areas of enhanced support are Darlington; Redcar and Cleveland; Redbridge, Barking and Dagenham; Havering; Waltham Forest; Newham; Hounslow; Haringey; Hammersmith and Fulham; Tower Hamlets; Hillingdon; Enfield;, Southwark; Islington; Ealing; Camden; Kensington and Chelsea; Brent; Lewisham; Barnet; Greenwich; Lambeth; Kingston upon Thames; Wandsworth; Westminster; Merton; Sutton; Richmond upon Thames; City of London; Bromley; Bexley and Croydon.

Although London isn't listed as such, the watchlist includes many London boroughs such as Camden, Kensington and Chelsea, Lewisham and Southwark.

The four areas removed from the watchlist entirely are Stoke-on-Trent; Peterborough; Corby and Northampton .

Several areas of England and Wales have been placed into local lockdowns where households mixing is banned.

Starting tomorrow, residents in Wigan, Stockport, Blackpool and Leeds will no longer be allowed to mix with people outside their household or bubble in private homes, including gardens.

This will be enforceable by law.

Residents in these areas are being warned not to meet people outside their household or bubble in any setting, whether a bar, shop or leisure facility – indoors or outdoors.

Childcare bubbles will be able to form in areas of intervention to allow families to share caring responsibilities with another household, as long as they are "consistent", said a Public Health England statement. "This includes formal and informal childcare arrangements."

The restrictions on Wigan and Stockport are said the be the same as currently in place in Greater Manchester.

The additional restrictions in Bolton remain in place.

The addition of Blackpool as an area of intervention brings it in line with the rest of Lancashire.

See how coronavirus has affected your area by entering your postcode below

Merseyside and parts of Cheshire remain subject to additional measures and restrictions.

Leeds will follow the restrictions currently in place in West Yorkshire - Calderdale, Kirklees and Bradford .

Birmingham, Solihull, Sandwell and Wolverhampton remain as areas of intervention with restrictions on households mixing in private dwellings.

Leicester and Oadby and Wigston remain areas of intervention.

Blaby remains an area of enhanced support.

South Tyneside, Gateshead, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Sunderland, North Tyneside, Northumberland and County Durham remain as areas of intervention. Cases are rising, and discussions are ongoing with local leaders, said Public Health England.

Officials are wrestling with a second wave of cases amid fears it could once again lead to a spike in deaths.

An England-wide curfew is now in effect from 10pm every night effectively banning socialising in public spaces.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “We continue to see an acceleration of Covid-19 cases across the country, especially in the North West and the North East.

"Working alongside our scientific and public health experts and local leaders, we are prepared to take swift and decisive action to reduce transmission of the virus and protect communities.

“I recognise the burden and impact these additional measures have on our daily lives but we must act collectively and quickly to bring down infections.

“We all have a part to play and I urge everyone to isolate and get a test if you have symptoms, follow the advice of NHS Test and Trace, and always remember ‘hands, face, space’.”

Full list of 92 areas on watchlist

Areas of intervention