Covid-19: Nottinghamshire to receive £23.1m in tier 3 funding

The whole of the county enters the highest coronavirus restrictions in England on Friday

Nottinghamshire is expected to receive £23.1m in funding to support businesses and manage Covid-19 enforcement as it enters tier three restrictions.

The funding will see a £16.5m business support scheme for firms in the county and £6.6m for managing systems like NHS test and trace locally.

The figure excludes Nottingham city, which will receive its own funding.

The news comes as the whole of the county enters the highest coronavirus restrictions in England on Friday.

Under Nottinghamshire's tier three restrictions, alcohol cannot be sold after 9pm in shops, but can be sold until 10pm if bought "in hospitality venues where accompanying a substantial meal".

Leader of the county council Kay Cutts said the curfew on selling alcohol was requested by Nottinghamshire Police in a bid to curb drinking in parks and streets after hospitality venues close.

Unlike other tier three areas across the country, businesses such as betting shops, saunas, tattoo parlours and nail salons must also close.

Ashfield District Council leader Jason Zadrozny said businesses would have to wait "at least a week" before receiving any financial support because of delays from central government.

He said: "People and businesses are frustrated and worried, a week doesn't sound that bad but take it in the context of these businesses.

"The wolf's already at the door, they're already existing.

"I went to a food bank that didn't exist at the start of this and now they're doing 200 food parcels a week, in one ward of Ashfield, that's the level of deprivation we're dealing with here."

At the beginning of the week it was thought only south Nottinghamshire would be entering tier three restrictions, but a surge in infection rates across the county led the government to re-evaluate its local lockdown.

Nottinghamshire's director of public health Jonathan Gribbin said the infection rate in the over 60s had been "rising significantly" and was of "grave concern".

"These infections are leading to the most severe pressures in our care system and also our local NHS," he said.

• Nottinghamshire to have 9pm alcohol rule

• What Covid tier is your area in and what are the rules?

• Nottingham's tier 3 restrictions 'heartbreaking'

On Wednesday, 413 people across the county were being treated in hospital for Covid-19, which is 40% more than the highest figures seen during the first wave of the virus.

Mr Gribbin added: "Nottinghamshire's got rates which are rising really quickly, that's been driving a lot of the disruption we've been seeing in our hospitals."

He said Nottingham's two main hospitals, City and the Queen's Medical Centre, had admitted 49 patients in a single day.

Ms Cutts said the hope was the county could follow tier three restrictions for 28 days, and appealed to people "to crack down as hard as we can now" so Nottinghamshire "can have a more normal Christmas".

"But it will depend entirely on the trajectory of the virus" she said.

Mr Gribbin added the 28 days gave "Nottinghamshire the very best chance of turning things around so that in the four weeks running up to Christmas we hope to be in a better place".

'We got a day and a half's notice'

Paul Green fears he may not reopen after being told he will have to close under tier three restrictions

Paul Green has run the Monster Shop - a tattoo parlour in Mansfield - for the past 36 years.

The father-of-three said that during the national lockdown the financial help was insufficient, meaning he eventually had to take universal credit.

He fears that if the tier three restrictions last as long as the lockdown did he may not reopen.

"We got a day and a half's notice, you can't prepare in that timescale," he said.

"We've abided by the rules, we're one of the cleanest businesses in the country, but they've still shut us down.

"Our customers can just drive a couple of minutes to tattoo places in Derbyshire. None of it makes sense."

• SOCIAL DISTANCING: What are the rules now?

• SUPPORT BUBBLES: What are they and who can be in yours?

• FACE MASKS: When do I need to wear one?

• SCHOOLS: What will happen if children catch coronavirus?

• TESTING: What tests are available?

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