England’s tier system ‘probably about to get tougher’ warns Boris Johnson

The prime minister Boris Johnson has warned that the tier system is ‘probably about to get tougher’. 

Rumours have circulated in the past week that the government is looking at a new, stricter ‘Tier 5’ to help stop the spread of Covid-19.

The Health Secretary Matt Hancock has today told Sky News that the government does not ‘rule anything out’ when asked if another national lockdown is being considered.

Over the weekend Mr Johnson spoke to the Andrew Marr Show, describing the current tier system as ‘very tough’ before warned it is ‘probably about to get tougher’ in order to ‘keep things under control’.

Mr Johnson added that the current situation is ‘very difficult’ and claimed that the government ‘could not have reasonably foreseen’ the arrival of a new variant in winter. 

The BBC’s Andrew Marr told the prime minister ‘you were warned in advance’, referencing a report published in summer that outlined the potential dangers of Covid-19 mutations. 

He said: “This report says the way to deal with this is to stop community transmission, to hold it back, which frankly this government has failed to do.”

Mr Johnson said the government has done ‘everything we can to urge people not to allow community transmission’. 

Speaking on the matter of schools reopening, Mr Johnson told the BBC that while they were safe he would not rule out school closures.

He said: “In principle its a good thing to keep schools open if we can. We’ve got to be realistic about the pace at which this new variant has spread and is spreading.”

Speaking on Sky News this morning, Matt Hancock said: “We don’t rule anything out, and we’ve shown repeatedly that we will look at the public health advice and we will take the public health advice in terms of what is needed to control the spread of the disease.

“This new variant is much easier to catch, it is much more transmissible, and we’re now seeing the effect of that in lots of different parts of the country, unfortunately.

“And it means that whereas the old Tier 3 was able to contain the old variant, that is proving increasingly difficult in all parts of the country.”

When questioned on how well Tier 4 restrictions reduce spread, Mr Hancock said: “It is down to people’s behaviour, frankly.

“What matters is, yes of course, the rules that we put in place, but it is also about how people act.

“And frankly what I would say is this: it is critical that everybody in the country does all that they can to reduce the spread of the virus.”

Tier 4 is above the ‘very high alert’ level of Tier 3 and the guidance states ‘stay at home’. In Tier 4 areas, you cannot leave or be outside of the place you are living unless for a reasonable excuse. You can only meet one person from another household outside. 

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has called on the government to impose a national lockdown immediately as the virus is ‘getting out of control’.

In the UK, the number of new cases passed 50,000 for the fifth day in a row yesterday. A further 445 deaths within 28 days of a positive test were confirmed on January 2nd.

Mr Starmer said: “The virus is clearly out of control. We can’t allow the Prime Minister to use up the next two or three weeks and then bring in a national lockdown which is inevitable.

“Do it now. That’s the necessary first step to get the virus back under control.”