MILLIONS of people in the North-East and North Yorkshire are sitting tight to find out if they are going to be placed under tougher tier restrictions today as Covid cases continue to rise. 

Addressing commons at 3pm this afternoon, December 30, the Health Secretary Matt Hancock will set out the details of which areas will change tiers.

With cases on the rise across the whole country and a highly-infectious new strain of the virus taking hold, it is unlikely anywhere will move down a tier. 

It is speculated that Hartlepool will move into Tier 4, making it the first in the region to be under the stringent of tiers. It is not clear, however, how this would work as the Tees Valley has so far been grouped together. 

Hartlepool's seven–day rolling rate of new cases by specimen date, ending on December 24, shows a worse picture than in other areas of the North-East.

There are a total of 385 cases in Hartlepool, up 85 or 28.3, giving the town a rolling rate of 411.0 per 100,000 people. 

Redcar and Cleveland has the lowest rate in the region, of 125.4 per 100,000 people with 172 total cases. This is down 26, or 13.1 per cent.

North Yorkshire is also experiencing a rise in Covid cases and is anticipating being placed in Tier 3. It is currently the only area in the North-East and Yorkshire to be under Tier 2 restrictions.

The biggest difference between Tier 2, 3 and 4 is the stay at home message.

People in Tier 4 are only allowed to leave their home for essential reasons, bearing similarities to the first lockdown.

National coronavirus restrictions are needed to prevent a “catastrophe” at the start of 2021, a member of the Government’s New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag) has warned.

Andrew Hayward, professor of infectious diseases epidemiology at University College London, said he expected a tightening of coronavirus restrictions to be announced.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast he said: “I think we’re really facing a very stark choice between many tens of thousands of avoidable deaths despite the vaccine or tighter restrictions across the country that will damage our economy.

“I think the scale of the threat that we face means that we really will need to tighten across the country and I would expect that to be the decision today.”

He said it was “early days yet” to see whether Tier 4 restrictions in England had helped control the spread of the virus.

Calls for national action have been mounting, leading to many speculating the introduction of a fifth tier - Tier 5. 

Mr Hayward yesterday said widespread Tier 4 restrictions – or even higher – are likely to be needed.

Matt Hancock's address will be shown live on the BBC Parliament TV channel. There will be coverage on both BBC News and Sky News, which can be watched live on their YouTube channels. It will also be available on catch-up afterwards. 

At 4pm, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson will also make a statement about the return of schools - which has so far proved highly controversial. 

Sage has reportedly advised that the R-rate could be kept below 1 if schools remained closed in January.

Yesterday, the Government said it is “still planning for a staggered opening of schools” after Christmas but is keeping the plan under constant review after mounting pressure to close schools to curb the spread of Covid. 

It comes as the North-East is one of three regions to see a week-on-week fall of registered Covid deaths, data reveals. 

The North-East, North West and the West Midlands all recorded a week-on-week fall in the number of registered Covid-19 deaths, the ONS said.

The Oxford University and AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine has also today been approved for use in the UK, paving the way for mass rollout.

Described as a “game-changer”, the vaccine was given the go-ahead by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the approval was “fantastic news” and confirmed the rollout would begin on Monday, January 4.