Milton Keynes to remain in Tier 4, announces government

There will be no change locally, but elsewhere in the country and additional 20 million people will be place in Tier 4 from lower tiers.

The changes, which come into effect at the beginning of tomorrow (Wednesday) mean a total of 44 million people will now be in Tier 4 - 78 per cent of the population of England.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said this afternoon: "I know that Tier 3 and 4 measures place a significant burden on people, and especially on businesses affected, but I am afraid it is absolutely necessary because of the number of cases that we've seen.

He said the majority of the new cases seen in the UK are the new strain.'Majority' of new cases are believed to be the new strain. "Unfortunately, this new variant is now spreading across most of England and cases are doubling fast", he said.

Milton Keynes has been in Tier 4 since Sunday 20th December, but Covid cases have risen sharply ever since then.