Hastings and Rother placed in Tier 3. This is what it means for you

Hastings and Rother has been placed in Tier 3.
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Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced the decision this morning (Thursday, December 17).

Nowhere else in the county has been placed in the higher tier of Covid-19 restrictions.

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According to the latest Government data, in the period from December 6 to December 12, cases in Hastings were 507 per 100,000 people.

Hastings town centre pictured at the end of England's second lockdown on 2/12/20. SUS-200212-143617001Hastings town centre pictured at the end of England's second lockdown on 2/12/20. SUS-200212-143617001
Hastings town centre pictured at the end of England's second lockdown on 2/12/20. SUS-200212-143617001

For Rother, the figure was 339 cases per 100,000 people.

As of yesterday (Tuesday, December 16), Hastings has seen a total of 1,532 confirmed cases of Covid-19 since the pandemic began.

The equivalent figure for Rother, which covers towns such as Bexhill, Battle, Robertsbridge, Rye and surrounding villages, was 1,411.

Since the pandemic began there have been 16 coronavirus-related deaths within 28 days of a positive test result in the Hastings borough.

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For Rother, the figure is 70 deaths within 28 days of a positive Covid-19 test result.

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

She said: “Today our area has moved into Tier Three, which I know will be incredibly disappointing for local people and a hammer blow to the local hospitality sector.

“None of us wanted to be in this position, however, the data on the virus is stark. While I am bitterly disappointed with the decision, especially considering how hard we have pulled together to resist the spread of this virus, it is clear to me and the local health professionals that we currently haven’t got control of the virus and infection rates continue to increase rapidly.

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“This is now having a knock effect on the pressures of our local health services.

“I want to urge people now to really stick to the rules and the guidance. We need to get this virus back under control so we can protect our NHS, avoid the vulnerable getting serious disease or worse succumbing to this dreadful virus.

“I know this is incredibly tough and we are asking a lot of people. We have all sacrificed so much already, but we simply cannot carry on as we with infection rates now well over 500 per 100,000 in Hastings.

“Just because restrictions have been lifted over Christmas, it does not mean we must take advantage of them.

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“This Christmas we all need to think carefully about the visits and people we meet.

“Keep your visits short, your gatherings small and your journeys local. This isn’t going to be a normal Christmas, but in the months to come we can return to some semblance of normal, and return to Christmas as usual next year.

“We have the glimmer of hope in 2021 that is the vaccine. It is being rolled out as we speak and this will get us out of this dark moment in time, but until then we need to keep at it with the social distancing and Covid-19 precautions over next few months.

“We have come so far, let’s not chuck it all away now as we make our way down the final finishing straight.”

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Bexhill and Battle MP, Huw Merriman, said: “It is surprising that the decision has been made to put parts of East Sussex in Tier 3, and keep other parts in Tier 2. There has been no meaningful engagement from the Department of Health with local MPs, our local NHS or local authorities leads. We have all engaged with each other but have had no joy getting our voices heard.

“If there had been engagement, the message from our local NHS would have been heard; we do not have one hospital per district or borough council. Our county hospitals, in Eastbourne and Hastings, are already at 97 per cent occupancy.

“Their operational circumstances as tight and on the cusp of needing assistance from outside the area. Given the rate increases are heading from the east, it could be argued that the west of the county is going to rise next without county-wide action.

“District borders are hard to define - the villagers of Ticehurst (Rother) will not be able to travel two miles to the Wadhurst High Street (Wealden) to do their shopping; they could not go to nearby Heathfield (Wealden) or Tunbridge Wells (Kent) either. They would have to travel a much further way to get their essentials.

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“Unlike MPs in London, there has been no chance for East Sussex MPs to discuss this beforehand. I am not particularly surprised that this illogical decision has therefore been made.”

Under the new Tier 3 rules, which come into force on Saturday (December 19), pubs and restaurants will have to close again and switch to only offering a take-away service in the run-up to Christmas.

Accommodation, such as hotels, will also have to shut again, as well as indoor play centres, 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.

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They must not also meet anybody indoors that they do not live with.

The five factors in determining what tier an area in England 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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