Millions of Britons will live under tougher coronavirus restrictions from today as new tiered measures and a two-week circuit-breaker come into force in England and Wales.
The 2.8 million people of Greater Manchester joined Liverpool City Region and Lancashire in the “very high risk” Tier 3 from midnight last night, while Wales’s population of 3.1 million will begin a 17-day “firebreak” lockdown at 6pm.
South Yorkshire will also move into the top Covid alert level from midnight, while Coventry, Stoke and Slough will join regions including London and Essex in Tier 2.
It comes as new analysis revealed that six London boroughs have suffered the highest levels of furloughed workers in the UK and soaring numbers of unemployment benefit claimants, as the economic damage wreaked by the Covid-19 crisis was laid bare.
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