Could Sussex be placed in Tier 3? This is what it would mean for you

According to the latest data from Public Health England, the fastest increases in the number of confirmed infections have been in Hastings, Worthing and Crawley.

A decision is expected to be made by the Government later today (Wednesday, December 16).

In the week ending December 2, cases in Hastings were 114.4 per 100,000 people. According to the latest data as of yesterday (Tuesday, December 15), the rate stood at 397.1 per 100,000.

The latest figure for Worthing is 66.9 per 100,000, for Crawley, it stands at 113.9.

The rate for Eastbourne is 99.3 per 100,000 and for Brighton and Hove, 80.8.

For the Rother district, which covers Bexhill, Battle, Robertsbridge, Rye and surrounding villages, the current rate is 259.2 per 100,000.

For Chichester, the rate is 78.4 per 100,000, according to the latest data.

Over a seven-day period up to last Thursday (December 10), East Sussex saw a 69.3 per cent increase in confirmed cases, according to the government data. For West Sussex the rate was a 59.5 per cent rise.

Last week, Hastings and Rye MP, Sally-Ann Hart warned that Sussex was ‘teetering’ on the brink of being placed in Tier 3.

If Sussex is placed in Tier 3, it would mean pubs and restaurants would have to close again and switch to only offering a take-away service in the run-up to Christmas.

Accommodation, such as hotels, would also have to close again, as well as indoor play centres, casinos, bingo halls, bowling alleys, indoor skating rinks and nightclubs.

Under Tier 3 rules people are not allowed to meet socially in a private garden or at most outdoor public venues with anybody they do not live with or have a support bubble with.

They must not also meet anybody indoors that they do not live with. Indoors means private homes and other indoor venues like pubs and restaurants.

Under current Tier 2 rules, people are not allowed to meet others they do not live with indoors but pubs and restaurants can stay open.

However alcohol can only be served with a substantial meal.

The five factors in determining what tier an area goes in are case detection rates in all age groups, the rate at which cases are rising or falling, pressure on the local NHS, case detection rates in those over 60, and the positivity rate, which is the number of positive cases detected as a percentage of tests taken.

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