Council leader urges Hertfordshire residents to follow new rules to prevent the virus spreading

The leader of Hertfordshire County Council has urged residents to follow the new rules to prevent the spread of coronavirus after the county entered Tier 4.

On Saturday, in an urgent press conference following talks with cabinet ministers, Boris Johnson announced that from yesterday (Sunday) areas in the South East of England which are currently in Tier 3 will be moved into a new Tier 4 – effectively returning to the lockdown rules of November.

The new Tier 4 restrictions will apply to the whole of Hertfordshire and nearby Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and London.

Non-essential shops, gyms, cinemas, hairdressers and bowling alleys will be forced to close for two weeks.

People will be restricted to meeting one other person from another household in an outdoor public space.

Under the new “stay at home” order, people in Tier 4 will be told they should not stay away from home overnight

People should not to travel into a tier four area, though support bubbles will remain unaffected as do the exemptions for separated parents and their children.

How have the Christmas rules changed?

For those living areas under tiers one, two and three, the rules allowing up to three households to meet will now be limited to Christmas Day only.

Furthermore, the Christmas bubbles for those in tiers one to three will not be able include anyone in tier four.

David Williams, leader of Hertfordshire County Council said: "This is very disappointing but the Government has taken this decision in response to a new, faster spreading variant of the virus which is creating a significant increase to case numbers across London and the South East.

"It is essential that we follow the new rules to prevent it spreading.

"We recognise the concerns that this escalation will prompt with both residents and businesses, and the additional restrictions and tougher rules that this involves.

"We also recognise the sacrifices they will be making yet again for the health, wellbeing and safety of the county."