The Government has confirmed London and parts of Essex and Hertfordshire will face the toughest tier 3 restrictions from Wednesday and now a full review of tier allocations given to every local authority in England.

When all areas were placed into one of three tiers after the national lockdown ended on December 2, the Government said it would review the allocations by December 16.

Any new rules announced on Thursday, December 17 will come into force from 12.01am Saturday, December 19, where regional allocations change.

Christmas rules

Whatever the outcome of Wednesday's review - the whole of England will enter into a different system for Christmas with distinct rules specifically in place to allow up to three households to meet over the festivities from December 23 to 27.

However, outside of the Christmas break - all areas will have to adhere to the tier rules they are under. The new classifications will be based on the number of cases in each area.

How will they be decided?

The Department of Health said decisions on tier levels are based on a number of factors, including case detection rates in all age groups and, in particular, among the over 60s.

How quickly case rates are rising or falling will also be taken into account, as will local pressure on the NHS, including current and projected capacity.

The final decisions will be made by Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the Covid Operations Committee, the Government said.

Essential guide to the new English tier system this Winter

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick has said there is "every reason" to expect some areas could be moved into a lower tier in the first fortnightly review.

Protect the NHS

Since then, NHS bosses have warned that relaxing restrictions could trigger a third wave of coronavirus at the busiest time of year for hospitals.

In a letter to the Prime Minister published on Saturday, NHS Providers urged “extreme caution” in moving any area of England to a lower tier, according to reports by the BBC.

And they urged that areas should be moved into the highest tier of restrictions “as soon as this is needed, without any delay”, according to the letter from NHS Providers, which represents hospital trusts in England.

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After a sharp rise in cases in London, the capital will move from tier 2 to tier 3 with a devastating impact on the economy.

Speaking to the Commons on Monday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock confirmed London, south and west Essex, and the south of Hertfordshire (Three Rivers, Watford, Hertsmere and Broxbourne) are going into tier three from 00:01 on Wednesday.

The parts of Essex are: Basildon, Brentwood, Harlow, Epping Forest, Castle Point, Rochford, Maldon, Braintree, Chelmsford, Thurrock and Southend-on-Sea.

He says there has been very large exponential growth in the virus in these areas, as well as Kent.

On Thursday, December 19, he announced that Hereforshire would move to tier 1, Bristol and North Somerset would move down to tier 2 and more areas of the East and South East would move up to tier 3 - these are Bedfordshire Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Peterborough, the whole of Hertfordshire, Surrey (except Waverley), Hastings and Rother, Portsmouth, Gosport and Havant.

Hancock said that a new fast growing variant of the virus has been identified in more than 1,000 cases - predominantly in the south of England.

On Sunday, The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan wrote to Boris Johnson requesting for an immediate increase in Covid-19 testing provision across the capital in response to the rising number of infections.

He warned that moving London from tier 2 into tier 3 would have a “catastrophic” economic impact on businesses and put “hundreds of thousands of livelihoods at stake”.

On Friday, Birmingham’s hospitality sector said it would consider taking the Government to court if tier 3 controls continue in the city, the leader of its biggest entertainment district has said.

Mike Olley, who runs the Westside Business Improvement District (BID) which is the biggest nightlife area outside of London, said a group of mainly restaurateurs are mulling a judicial review bid.

Birmingham was placed in the highest tier of controls in November, meaning many pubs, bars and restaurants had to remain closed after the end of the second national lockdown.

In Staffordshire, council leaders have written to the Prime Minister to appeal against prolonging the county's placement in Tier 3.

Staffordshire County Council leader Alan White - together with all eight district and borough council leaders - say that while they understand the Government's position, infection rates have been falling in all areas in the county.

Boris Johnson told MPs at the Commons vote on December 1 that tiers would be decided on a more “granular” basis after the review in mid-December, raising hopes among backbenchers in areas which have low infection rates but are included in tier 2 and 3 restrictions.