Coronavirus: New lockdown restrictions in parts of north of England following spike in Covid-19 transmission

Millions of households across northern England have been banned from cross-household gatherings in homes or pubs under last-minute new lockdown measures introduced overnight, as the government rushed to contain “increasing” transmission of cases.

The new rules, announced the night before Muslims across the country are set to celebrate Eid al-Adha, are being introduced in Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and east Lancashire following increased rates of coronavirus transmission.

The restrictions bar different households from meeting indoors in homes and hospitality venues across Greater Manchester as well in as the local authority areas of Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle, Rossendale, Bradford, Calderdale and Kirklees. The same restrictions will apply to the City of Leicester just as it prepares to emerge from a much stricter lockdown.

Gatherings in private gardens have also been ruled out under the measures, which were announced by health secretary Matt Hancock on Twitter just over two hours before they were due to be implemented.

Claiming that the regional spike was “largely due to households meeting and not abiding to social distancing” Mr Hancock wrote: “We’re constantly looking at the latest data on the spread of coronavirus, and unfortunately we’ve seen an increasing rate of transmission in parts of northern England.

He added: “We take this action with a heavy heart, but we can see increasing rates of Covid across Europe and are determined to do whatever is necessary to keep people safe.”

The government is set to sign legislation to make the rules legally enforceable, giving local authorities and police forces powers to ensure the restrictions are followed.

There was anger at the abrupt late-night announcement – which came at shortly after 9pm – after conflicting reports emerged of what would, and would not, be impacted by the restrictions.

With hours to go until the rules were due to be imposed, MPs in affected areas said they had struggled to get sufficient information from ministers on what the changes would mean for their constituents.

Labour leader Keir Starmer called the moment a “new low” in government communications.

“”No one would argue with putting in place local action to reduce the transmission of coronavirus”, he said in a statement posted to social media, “But announcing measures affecting potentially millions of people late at night on Twitter is a new low for the government’s communications during this crisis.

“When the government ended the daily press conferences, they said they would hold them for ‘significant announcements’, including local lockdowns. It’s hard to imagine what could be more significant than this.”

Shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy, whose Wigan seat is affected by the measures, said: “We were told more information would be published ‘as fast as possible’. It is deeply frustrating and I appreciate it is really hard to follow rules that aren’t clear.

“What we were told is that Covid rates are rising so please do what you can and we will keep pressing for clarity.”

Ahead of Eid celebrations Manchester Gorton MP Afzal Khan said he understood that communal prayers in mosques can go ahead to mark the day, but there must be no visitors to people’s homes.

“I urge you to follow the restrictions – they are there to keep us all safe and secure,” he said in a message to constituents. “Eid mubarak.”