Millions of people in the east and south-east of England will face the toughest Covid-19 rules from Saturday, the health secretary has said.
Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Hertfordshire will be subject to tier three rules, as will parts of Surrey, East Sussex, Cambridgeshire and Hampshire.
Swathes of the country already in tier three will remain there.
Matt Hancock told MPs: "We've come so far, we mustn't blow it now."
Bristol and North Somerset will move from tier three to tier two, and Herefordshire will move from tier two into tier one.
The changes come into effect at 00:01 on Saturday.
They mean that 68% of England's population - 38 million people - will be living in tier three from the weekend.
Some 30% of the population will be in tier two, while just 2% will be in tier one.
Announcing the outcome of the first formal review of the new tiering system in England, Mr Hancock said "no-one wants tougher restrictions any longer than necessary".
However, he said "these are always the most difficult months for people's health" and we "must keep suppressing this virus".
He said cases have risen by 46% in the past week in the south-east of England and up by two-thirds in the east of England.
He added the restrictions are "thankfully not the only tool we have to fight the disease" and that Education Secretary Gavin Williamson will "set out further detail on testing in schools" later.
It is expected to be announced later that the return to school in January will be staggered for secondary pupils in England, with some starting term online rather than in class.
Secondary school age children have among the highest infection rates.
Which areas are changing tiers?
The health secretary said from 00:01 Saturday 19 December:
- Bedfordshire Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Peterborough, the whole of Hertfordshire, Surrey (except Waverley), Hastings and Rother, Portsmouth, Gosport and Havant will move into tier three.
- Bristol and North Somerset will be moved down to tier two.
- Herefordshire will move from tier two to tier one.
With the majority of the country in the highest tier, many will be wondering how long it will be before the rules are relaxed.
Tier three now contains a variety of different patterns.
Large parts of the North have seen cases fall and now have lower than average infection rates, although there are signs those decreases have stalled.
Other areas, such as some of the home counties, have low rates that are rising.
But there are places - east London and the surrounding areas - that have high rates that are rising.
The fact that they are all in tier three is a sign of caution from ministers.
That, of course, is because of the Christmas relaxation - and fear it could lead to a spike in cases.
If that happens, tier three could become the norm for months - maybe accompanied by a third lockdown.
That would leave the government and public pinning everything on the vaccine programme.
Earlier this week, ministers said a good start had been made with more than 137,000 people vaccinated.
But there are more than 25 million in the priority groups - 12 million of them over the age of 65.
In theory, two million could be vaccinated every week, but that depends on multiple things going right.
The fear is this could become the status quo for many until the spring.
Some 34 million people have already been living under tier three rules.
London, most of Essex and parts of Hertfordshire were placed under the strictest curbs on social contacts on Wednesday.
They joined much of the Midlands, north-west England and north-east England.
Andrew Gwynne, Labour MP for Denton and Reddish, tweeted that keeping Greater Manchester in tier three "is yet another blow for our hospitality".
"It seems we are trapped in this system arbitrarily which was always my worry - and despite our cases dropping, we are now being held back because of the utter mess government has made of its Christmas relaxation rules," he said.
Earlier, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham suggested that ministers could "overcompensate" for relaxing the rules over Christmas.
Leaders in areas moving into tier three expressed their concerns.
Stephen McPartland, Conservative MP for Stevenage, tweeted that it was "ridiculous" the town is "being dragged into" tier three
Gerald Vernon-Jackson, the Liberal Democrat leader of Portsmouth City Council, said the decision to introduce the toughest measures there was "bizarre".
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https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiJmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9uZXdzL3VrLTU1MzUwMDg10gEqaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmJjLmNvLnVrL25ld3MvYW1wL3VrLTU1MzUwMDg1?oc=5
2020-12-17 13:37:00Z
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