Ban on households mixing indoors as London set to go into Tier 2 lockdown from midnight on Friday night
London MPs have been told to prepare for the capital to move up to the next tier of lockdown, which will see a ban on mixed households meeting up inside to combat the rising rate of Covid-19.
Ministers were briefed by Health Minister Helen Whateley over the new measures in a call this morning.
Ms Whateley reportedly told MPs that all of London would move up to Tier 2 at midnight on Friday night, which will prevent households from mixing inside – including in pubs and restaurants, although households can still meet up outside where the ‘rule of six’ applies in private gardens, beer gardens and other outdoor spaces.
Londoners have also been advised to avoid public transport and reduce the number of journeys they make where possible.
Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “Nobody wants to see more restrictions, but this is deemed to be necessary in order to protect Londoners.”
He added that there was “simply no other option”, as he told people in London: “We’ve got a difficult winter ahead.”
This “could save thousands of lives and drive the virus down to manageable levels”, he told the London Assembly.
Mr Khan added: “In London, we experienced the worst of Covid-19 back in the spring. Thousands of lives were lost and our economy has been left reeling.
“We simply can’t afford for the government to be slow to act again.”
The new three-tier system sees every area of England classed as being on medium, high or very high alert.