Coronavirus ‘back under control’ as England to be plunged into harsher Tiers system, Matt Hancock says

CORONAVIRUS infections are now “back under control” – just as England is set to be plunged into a harsher Tiers system, Matt Hancock said tonight.

The Health Secretary hailed the latest figures showing case rates going down after the month-long lockdown, just as the nation is about to be shoved into a harsh system of tiers keeping pubs closed and stopping people from seeing friends and family.

Speaking at the No10 press conference tonight, he claimed that the lockdown has worked in “reducing the pressures on the NHS” and “hope is on the horizon” for Spring.

He stated: “We’ve got this virus back under control, I want to thank you for that.”

And Professor Stephen Powis of NHS England said today that in recent days “we have started to turn the corner” on hospital admissions.

It takes a couple of weeks before the effects of a national lockdown to be shown, he explained today.

He added: “It will be the next week or two where we see the full effects come through.”

The average number of new coronavirus cases has plummeted from a peak of 25,331 in mid-November to 14,778.

Crucially, the R rate – the rate of the transmission of the virus – is just below 1.

This means the national lockdown will be allowed to end in on Wednesday and people will be able to reunite with families over Christmas.

It comes as:

• Pubs and restaurants in Wales will have to close at 6pm daily from Friday – and are banned from selling booze
• Covid cases have dropped by a THIRD according to fresh figures
• A minister suggest scotch eggs can count as a substantial meal in Tier 2 areas
• Coronavirus cases are only rising in 17 areas in England

But the Health Secretary warned there was not much “headroom” and it was still vital that new cases continued to go down in order to allow people to celebrate Christmas, without causing the NHS to become overwhelmed.

He said: “Everyone in England can have some greater freedoms but we don’t have much headroom.

“We can’t allow cases to rise again in the run up to Christmas and with the flu season around the corner.”

More than 23 million people will be under harsh Tier 3 restrictions from Wednesday to try and keep infection rates down in the worst-hit areas.

And this will cause even more heartache for restaurants and pubs who will be forced to close.

HOPE ON THE HORIZON

But Mr Hancock buoyed up hopes for areas hoping to escape the brunt of local lockdown restrictions, saying the positive figures from the last few weeks could mean some could climb down to Tier 2.

“(On the next review) we will be absolutely looking at each area and seeing what tier is right.

“With the case rates coming down as they are, by almost a third in the last week, we will absolutely be looking at which is the right Tier for that area.”

Mr Hancock said he hoped mass testing would be able to offer a way for areas to free themselves from the worst of the local lockdown rules.

He said: “(Community testing) will give Tier 3 areas a faster way out of toughest restrictions and come down the Tier ladder.

“By using tests that can turn results around in under 30 mins, we can identify and isolate people who have Covid, and the one in three who don’t have symptoms.”

Asymptomatic cases of coronavirus are a “silent danger”, the Health Secretary warned.

A handful of areas have already taken up the Government’s offer – including Warwickshire and the West Midlands.

Sir Gordon Messenger, the Head of Operations for the Community testing program, admitted he didn’t know how many of the 23 million people under the toughest restrictions they would be able to swab.

The Health Secretary acknowledge the massive toll the tougher level restrictions would pose to people and businesses – and promised there was hope for a more normal life.

He said: “I know that it weighs heavily. The light of dawn is on the horizon, this is the moment to stand firm before the morning.”

The Government has bought another 2 million doses of the Moderna vaccine, which has already been handing over data to the regulator who needs to sign its approval for use in the UK.