Coronavirus: David from Portsmouth asks Boris Johnson why tier four does not cover whole south east

The new tier restrictions were placed on Portsmouth, Gosport and Havant at the weekend amid concerns of a new covid strain, increasing case rates and pressures on Queen Alexandra Hospital.

It means across the south east only streets separate tier four and tier two areas, leaving families in neighbouring boroughs subject to different rules over Christmas.

David from Portsmouth made an appearance on this evening’s press conference to ask Boris Johnson why he thinks the new covid strain won’t be able to cross council borders.

He said: ‘Living in Portsmouth we stand alone as a tier four area surrounded by tier two boroughs, such as Fareham which shares our major hospital. We have family that live no more than five minutes away that are classed as tier two that we can’t celebrate with under the tier four restrictions.

‘When the government introduced tier four, why was this not blanket applied to the whole south east? Is the prime minister stating that the new covid strain, which is 70 per cent more transmissible, will not be able to cross into different council boroughs which in some cases are no more than 100 yards away from each other.’

Boris Johnson said he ‘fully understands the frustrations of people who feel they are in too high a tier’.

In response to David’s questions, he told a Downing Street press conference: ‘All I can say is we have to act on the basis of the epidemiology as we see it.

‘We looked at where the new variant was, where it was spreading and acted to restrict it there, and, of course, we will keep those measures under review every couple of weeks.’

SEE ALSO: City council leader sends letter to Boris Johnson after new coronavirus restrictions introduced

Portsdown Road, in Paulsgrove, has been sliced down the middle as the street straddles the boundary line between Portsmouth City Council, which is facing the tightest restrictions, and Fareham Borough Council, which remains in tier two.

It comes after calls for the government to share new covid strain data with officials in Portsmouth.

Portsmouth South MP Stephen Morgan called for Matt Hancock to urgently provide data about the threat posed to Portsmouth by the new variant of coronavirus.

England’s chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty said screening tests suggested that in the south east 43 per cent of the virus was now the new variant.

City council leader Gerald Vernon-Jackson also hit out at the government, in a letter to the prime minister, over the ‘chaos’ caused by moving the city into tier four without consultation, providing no local evidence about the new strain and questioned what support would be given to businesses.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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