Coronavirus tier system comes into force as England’s national lockdown is lifted

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new tougher tier system of Covid-19 restrictions for England has come into force, as the national four-week lockdown is lifted.

More than 55 million people in the country are being placed in the top two strictest tiers, with London in Tier 2.

The rules are tougher than in the previous tier system England was face with before its second lockdown began in November.

Commons backs Johnson’s Covid tiers despite threat of rebellion from Tory MPs

Thousands of non-essential shops will now attempt to make a comeback as the national lockdown ends.

In its place, much of England will be under Tier 2 and 3 of the new Covid-19 restrictions – which limits social contact between households, but allows non-essential shops to reopen.

Business leaders hope customers will return to their local stores in the final weeks before Christmas.

Coronavirus – In pictures

A sign advertising a book titled « How Will We Survive On Earth? » is seen on an underground station platform

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Customers wearing face masks shop at the pork counter of a supermarket following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, Hubei province

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Westminster Bridge is deserted in London the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown

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Canadian passengers Chris & Anna Joiner ask for help onboard the MS Zaandam, Holland America Line cruise ship, during the coronavirus outbreak, off the shores of Panama City

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A man crosses a nearly empty 5th Avenue in midtown Manhattan during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York City

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The London Eye is pictured lit blue in support of the NHS, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues

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Boris Johnson addresses the nation on the Coronavirus lockdown

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Commuters cope with Coronavirus

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Milan’s Piazza del Duomo empty

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People in protective clothing walk past rows of beds at a temporary 2,000-bed hospital for COVID-19 coronavirus patients set up by the Iranian army at the international exhibition center in northern Tehran, Iran

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Martina Papponetti, 25, an ICU nurse at the Humanitas Gavazzeni Hospital in Bergamo, Italy poses for a portrait at the end of her shift

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Pope Francis celebrating a daily mass alone in the Santa Marta chapel at the Vatican, as part of precautionary measures against the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19

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Vysheyshaya Liga – FC Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino v FC Belshina Bobruisk – Torpedo Stadium, Zhodino, Belarus, March 27, 2020 Players in action during the match despite most sport being cancelled around the world as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues

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Hanks and Wilson both have coronavirus

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General view of an emergency makeshift field hospital as it is set up at Pacaembu Stadium for coronavirus (COVID-19) patients with a capacity of 200 beds in Sao Paulo, Brazil

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People on a busy tube train in London at rush hour despite Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling on people to stay away from pubs, clubs and theatres, work from home if possible and avoid all non-essential contacts and travel in order to reduce the impact of the coronavirus pandemic

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Naomi Campbell catches a flight in a hazmat suit with goggles, a surgical mask and rubber gloves

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Sophie and Emily Ward pose for a photograph with their hand-drawn picture of rainbows and a message on their window in St Helens, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues

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Mia, aged 8, and Jack, aged 5, take part in « PE with Joe » a daily live workout with Joe Wicks on Youtube to help kids stay fit who have to stay indoors due to the Corona virus outbreak.

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Shoppers queue outside a branch of Costco, in Croydon, south London, on the weekend after Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered pubs and restaurants across the country to close

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Charing Cross Tube Bakerloo Line very quiet at 8.15am

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A woman with a plastic box over her head on the London Underground.

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A Racegoer attend Cheltenham Festival on Ladies Day wearing a fashionable face mask

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Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits a laboratory at the Public Health England National Infection Service in Colindale

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A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask today in Victoria

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A couple kiss in Milano Centrale railway station in Milan on March 8, 2020

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A combination picture shows visitors wearing protective face masks following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) looking at blooming cherry blossom nd a pigeon walking at an closed cherry blossom viewing spot during the first weekend after Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike (not pictured) urged Tokyo residents to stay indoors, in a bid to keep the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from spreading

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This combination photo created on March 5, 2020 shows tourists visiting Angkor Wat temple in Siem Reap province on March 16, 2019 (top) and on March 5, 2020

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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange

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U.S. President Donald Trump looks at the $2.2 trillion coronavirus aid package bill as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Vice President Mike Pence stand by during a signing ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House

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A satellite image shows an empty South Beach during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Miami,

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General view inside the empty stadium as the two teams line up prior to the UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg match between Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund at Parc des Princes

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A Sainsbury’s supermarket in Cambridge is among those to sell out of antibacterial hand sanitizer

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Tents and ambulances are set up next to the Princess Cruises Grand Princess cruise as it sits docked in the Port of Oakland on March 09, 2020 in Oakland, California. The Princess Cruises Grand Princess has been held from docking until today as at least 21 people on board have tested positive for COVID-19 also known as the Coronavirus

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Medical staff produce traditional Chinese medicine to treat patients infected by the COVID-19 coronavirus at a hospital in Wuhan

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Army soldiers wearing protective suits spray disinfectant as a precaution against the new coronavirus at a shopping street in Seoul, South Korea

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Russian President Vladimir Putin wearing protective gear walks at a hospital for patients infected with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on the outskirts of Moscow

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A woman who has recovered from the COVID-19 is disinfected by volunteers as she arrives at a hotel for a 14-day quarantine

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Passengers on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship are seen as the ship arrives at Daikoku Pier where it is being resupplied and newly diagnosed coronavirus cases taken for treatment as it remains in quarantine after a number of the 3,700 people on board were diagnosed with coronavirus

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Dave Abel pictured in hospital in Japan

Manchester United fans in the stands during the Premier League match at Old Trafford

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Police officers wearing masks stand in front of the H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel in La Caleta, in the Canary Island of Tenerife

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Carnival revellers wear protective face masks at Venice Carnival

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A general view is pictured of Burbage Primary School in Buxton, Derbyshire after the closure of the school as a pupil’s parent has tested positive for the novel coronavirus COVID-19

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People wearing face masks walk past the Olympic rings in front of the new National Stadium, the main stadium for the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Game

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People leave Kents Hill Park Training and Conference Centre in Milton Keynes where Coronavirus evacuees are due to be released from quarantine today and allowed to go home

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Matt Raw, a British national who returned from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, leaves quaratine at Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside

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A woman wears a mask while crossing London Bridg

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A general view of Worthing Hospital in West Sussex

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Passengers relax on board the Holland America-operated Westerdam cruise ship, which has been denied permission to dock in Thailand over coronavirus fears

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A child waves as she sits in a vehicle carrying residents evacuated from a public housing building, following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, outside Hong Mei House, at Cheung Hong Estate in Hong Kong

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A woman wearing a Minnie Mouse face mask looks at her mobile phone in Beijing on February 11, 2020

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The Costa Smeralda cruise ship of Costa Crociere, carrying around 6,000 passengers, is docked at the Italian port of Civitavecchia after a health alert due to a Chinese couple and a possible link to coronavirus on board, in Civitavecchia, Italy

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A patient covered with a bed sheet at an exhibition centre converted into a hospital as it starts to accept patients displaying mild symptoms of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan

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A medical official takes the body temperature of a man at the departure hall of the airport in Changsha, Hunan Province, as the country is hit by an outbreak of a new coronavirus, China

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The view of the Wuhan International Conference and Exhibition Center

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A plane carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, arrives at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire

A police vehicle enters the gates of the Royal Air Force station RAF Brize Norton in Carterton

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Passengers wear face masks as the push their luggage after arriving from a flight at Terminal 5 of London Heathrow Airport

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French citizens arrive and settle aboard of an evacuation plane with destination southeastern France, before departure from Wuhan Airport (WUH), China

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Police stand at a checkpoint at the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge that crosses from Hubei province in Jiujiang, Jiangxi province, China

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A member of staff at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside prepares for a bus carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China

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Doctor Paul McKay, who is working on an vaccine for the 2019-nCoV strain of the novel coronavirus, poses for a photograph with bacteria containing fragments of coronavirus DNA, at Imperial College School of Medicine (ICSM) in Londo

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Workers produce masks at the Thai Hospital Product Company Ltd. factory in Bangkok

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Passengers wearing face masks are seen on a bus after disembarking from the Costa Smeralda cruise ship, after tests on a woman from Macau with suspected coronavirus came back negative, in Civitavecchia, Italy

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People hoard bottles of alcohol after the Philippine government confirmed the first case of the new coronavirus in the country, in Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines

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Taking precautions: with fears growing that the coronavirus will spread from China, a health official checks a woman’s temperature on the underground in Beijing

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An empty road is seen in Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province on January 27, 2020, amid a deadly virus outbreak which began in the city

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Students wearing masks meditate prior to a lesson at a high school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

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Medical staff at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital wear protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus

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Staff move bio-waste containers past the entrance of the Wuhan Medical Treatment Center, where some infected with a new virus are being treated, in Wuhan, China

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Workers driving excavators at the construction site of a field hospital In Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The builders will complete the 1,000-bed hospital by February 3 to cope with the surge of 2019-nCoV patients in the city

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Buddhist monks wear masks as they walk near Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodi

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A woman and a child wearing protective masks walk toward check-in counters at Daxing international airport in Beijing

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An employee sprays disinfectant on a train as a precaution against a new coronavirus at Suseo Station in Seoul, South Korea

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A policeman wearing a mask walks past a quarantine notice about the outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan, China at an arrival hall of Haneda airport in Tokyo, Japan

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Paramilitary police wear face masks as they stand guard at Tiananmen Gate adjacent to Tiananmen Square in Beijing

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The resident wear masks to buy vegetables in the market in Wuhan

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Staff sell masks at a Yifeng Pharmacy in Wuhan

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Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV

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In preparation, retailers have been working hard to make their buildings safe for customers while some have organised festive events to entice shoppers.

As before when shops reopened following the first lockdown, many have implemented measures to limit the number of people entering shops.

They are also enforcing social distancing rules, setting up hand sanitiser stations and carrying out more frequent deep cleaning.

In a bid to liven up the capital’s West End, Westminster City Council will extend al fresco dining in central London for another six months.

Council leader Rachael Robathan said the scheme, which allows venues to provide « pop up » dining areas in streets, continued to be an important way of supporting the hospitality industry in London.

Coronavirus in numbers: UK death toll rises by 603 to 59,051

« We have 3,700 restaurants, pubs and bars in central London and they help to support around 80,000 jobs, » she said.

« Hospitality is a big employer for us and while the sector faces another tough few months under Tier 2 restrictions, at least we can support those venues who can offer outside space. »

Department store Selfridges is setting up a Christmas market outside of its London store.

Described as a « foodies’ paradise », it will also include several rides including a giant helter-skelter.

A spokesman for Selfridges said: « Think a mini version of Hyde Park’s Winter Wonderland which was cancelled this year. »

For customers wanting to head to John Lewis, they are encouraged to go on the store’s website to pre-book a slot to visit their local shop up to 14 days in advance.

Related

Meanwhile, retail giant Primark will reopen its 153 stores with longer shopping hours, while 11 stores will be open for 24 hours from 7am on Wednesday.

Homeware retailer Ikea will open 19 stores across England, including Tottenham Court Road’s planning studio which will reopen for appointments and walk-ins.