South Yorkshire will get second tier review date before Christmas

This means that even if areas are not moved down into lower tiers in the December 16 review, they may still have a chance to be moved down a week later on December 23.

That is a week earlier than previously promised by the Government, which initially committed to a review every 14 days.

In today’s call with MPs (December 14) Health Secretary Matt Hancock also confirmed that the whole London area would be moved into Tier 3 lockdown restrictions as cases of COVID-19 in the capital surge ahead of Christmas.

There has been no confirmation of any areas moving down a tier at the moment.

The 17 areas of Sheffield with LESS than 8 Covid-19 infections ahead of lockdown tier announcement

Last week Sheffield City Region mayor Dan Jarvis said that it was unlikely that South Yorkshire would be moved down into Tier 2 in the December review period.

He said: “Four of the five key indicators for areas moving out of Tier 3 are still too high in South Yorkshire. Our NHS services remain under massive pressure.

"Over 600 people are currently in our region’s hospitals with Covid, with more being admitted every single week. It is imperative that we avoid a devastating third wave in January and put more lives put at risk – just at the point that a vaccine is being rolled out. It’s likely, therefore, that the Government will decide to keep South Yorkshire in Tier 3 next week.”