December 23rd, 2020.

East Sussex County Council release:


New Tier 4 Covid restrictions are to be extended across the whole of East Sussex from Boxing Day (Saturday), the government has announced.

After months of low infection rates across Est Sussex, Covid-19 cases in every district and borough have more than doubled, and in some cases trebled, over a seven day period.

This worrying increase is putting considerable pressure on all public services and, while we know the concern stricter restrictions will cause among residents and businesses, action needs to be taken now to slow the spread and ease the burden on the NHS.

We all need to act now as if we carry the virus: keep social contact to an absolute minimum and at the first sign of symptoms, no matter how mild, self-isolate and book a test.

While households currently in tier 2 can continue to form a three household bubble on Christmas day, we need to carefully consider who we meet and take every possible precaution to keep ourselves and others safe.

The new restrictions mean:

- you must stay at home whenever possible

- non-essential shops must close

- gyms, hair and beauty and other close contact services must close

- you can only meet one other person not from your household and only in an open public space

- you must not travel to areas in other tiers (unless it’s absolutely essential for work, medical reasons or education)

- no travel abroad

- support bubbles are still allowed

- communal worship can continue

We know this is tough, and although the vaccination offers a light at the end of the tunnel, it will be some months before it can alter the overall path of the virus. In the meantime we all have a role to play in helping to reduce the infection rate and, in doing so, protect our communities and our NHS.

Find out about the full restrictions in tier 4 and www.eastsussex.gov.uk/

For more information on how the new restrictions will impact on County Council services visit Disruption to ESCC services