London and the South East will be placed into a ‘tier4’ that will mean people will not be allowed to mix with other households at Christmas, however ‘Christmas bubbles’ on December 25 will be allowed.
Rumours of the restrictions began this afternoon at around 2pm.
The BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg tweeted: “Cabinet members have been briefed that the PM expected to announce a Tier 4, tighter covid restrictions for London and SE at 4pm this afternoon – and will cut back on the planned relaxation of the rules over Christmas”
NHS England said that a further 339 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital in England, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths reported in hospitals to 46,122.
New restrictions will be introduced in parts of south east that are currently in tier 3.
These areas will now enter Tier 4, which will similar to the national lockdown in November with all non essential shops and places of work closing.
People in these areas must stay at home, non essential shops will close.
People may travel for work, it has been announced however they have been asked to work from home if possible.
People can only meet one person from another household in an outdoor space.
The Prime Ministers press conference was held at 4:00pm this afternoon (19 December).
