Croydon and the rest of London, plus Surrey and Sussex, though not Kent, will be able to emerge from the second lockdown next Wednesday, it was announced in the House of Commons this morning.
From December 2, the capital and most of south-east England will be in what the government now calls Tier 2 restrictions. That means non-essential shops, even some pubs, can open for business once again.
A few football fans in London and Liverpool can return to their home grounds for the first time since March (though not in Manchester, which remains in the top-level of restrictions, Tier 3, which will disappoint all those plastic Mancs who like to drive up the M6 to Old Trafford).
The town centre’s near-deserted shopping streets can start to return to something akin to normal next week
Under the Tier 2 restrictions which will apply in Croydon, gyms, hairdressers and other personal care businesses will be able to reopen.
The “Rule of Six” will again apply for outdoor gatherings in all areas.
Places of worship will be able to open and weddings will be allowed within local restrictions.
Here are the rules in the re-defined Tier 2:
- Under the new system, although hospitality venues will be allowed to stay open until 11pm – with last orders at 10pm – only those that serve substantial meals can operate. It means pubs and bars that do not will have to stay closed.
- Social mixing of households or support bubbles will not be allowed indoors. The Rule of Six will apply outdoors.
- Spectators will be allowed to watch sport in Tier 2, with a maximum crowd capacity outdoors of 50 per cent of the capacity of the stadium, or 2,000 people, whichever is smaller (so no problem for Croydon FC at their new home at Crystal Palace NSC). Indoors, the maximum capacity is 1,000.
- Indoor entertainment venues, such as cinemas, casinos and bowling alleys, will remain closes.
According to latest government figures, there were 101 new cases of coronavirus in Croydon yesterday – still much higher than the number of infections recorded in September
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