Devon stays in tier 2

But neighbours move up a tier

Only a week or so after some people were campaigning for Devon and Cornwall to be aligned in the tiering structure, they now are - but not as many hopes or expected. And Devon's neighbours to the east are going up to what until a few days ago was the top tier.

Now Somerset is moving into tier 3 restrictions from Boxing Day as the government, which has admitted covid-19 is out of control, takes further steps to contain the pandemic.

Early on Wednesday, the Daily Telegraph reported that a hotspot of the new mutant strain of the virus, was affecting an area around Plymouth. The newspaper's graphic for the hotspot included parts of south east Cornwall. Now the whole county has been upgraded from tier 1 to tier 2, aligning it with Devon, which remains in tier 2.

In a briefing from Downing Street, health secretary Matt Hancock admitted the old tiers were insufficient to control the outbreak. 

The move from Tier 1 - medium alert - means that people in Cornwall can no longer follow the rule of six outdoors and cannot mix with other households indoors unless they are in a support bubble.