Covid: Portsmouth, Gosport and Havant set for tier three

Portsmouth's director of public health urged people to "think carefully" about their Christmas plans

Portsmouth, Gosport and Havant are to move into the highest tier of coronavirus restrictions from Saturday, the health secretary has announced.

The area is among eight in the south of England to be moved into tier three.

Portsmouth City Council leader Gerald Vernon-Jackson urged everyone to obey the rules "while we all get vaccinated against this terrible disease".

Portsmouth FC said its Boxing Day game against Swindon would now take place behind closed doors.

Fratton Park had previously been allowed to admit 2,000 supporters for home matches.

Havant and Waterlooville FC said it was "saddened to announce" it was "unable to admit fans to home games for the foreseeable future" and Saturday's game with Braintree Town would be streamed online instead.

Kings Theatre in Southsea, which launched its Dick Whittington pantomine on 8 December, said its last show would be on Friday night.

A statement on the theatre's Facebook page said: "We're so proud of what we have achieved staging our first Pompey panto and we are devastated that the show must be closed over Christmas whilst we're in tier three."

'Huge sacrifices'

Wild Wonderland indoor play centre in Gosport, which opened for the first time in October, said it was "absolutely devastated" it would not be able to run its first Christmas event and would be contacting customers in the coming days.

Portsmouth City Council said cases of infection had risen 42% in the city since 8 December, while its seven-day rate per 100,000 people was double that of Southampton.

Mr Vernon-Jackson said the increase had been due to "social and geographical differences" but added: "Portsmouth has shown time and time again this year that, by acting together, we can slow the spread of this disease, so I have every faith that we can do it again. We have to."

He later added: "Our hospital has been doing a brilliant job but they are under really significant pressure so even if our numbers are below other places the government may just decide to save the hospital by putting us up to tier three.

"We are not involved in any decision-making. I think it's probably best to consult and involve people so they are supportive of the decisions made, but the government have decided not to consult, they will just do to us what they think is right."

Portsmouth South Labour MP Stephen Morgan said: "Just two weeks ago the government mistakenly claimed they had the pandemic under control. The city council leader also wildly said Portsmouth could go into tier one.

"Ministers must now get a grip of this virus so that our NHS can be protected and our city's economy recovers faster."

The changes mean pubs and restaurants must close, except for delivery and takeaway, as must indoor entertainment venues.

They come into effect at 00:01 GMT on Saturday.

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