Everything you need to know about today’s lockdown review for Sheffield

The city is currently subjected to Tier 3 lockdown measures, where pubs and restaurants are only allowed to operate as a takeaway and households are banned from mixing.

Ministers will review today whether health bosses in Sheffield have done enough to control the spread of the virus to alleviate the strain on hospitals so that the city can move down a tier.

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What Tier are Sheffield and South Yorkshire likely to be in?

According to Public Health England, Sheffield's case rate is 138.3 per 100,000 people, based on data from the seven days to December 10, with 809 cases recorded.

In Doncaster, the case rate is 185 per 100,000 people, with 577 total cases recorded.

Meanwhile, Barnsley’s case rate stands at 136.1 per 100,000 people with 336 confirmed cases, a reduction of 38 cases.

However, Rotherham shows an increase in its infection rate with 220.4 cases per 100,000 people. This means, it now has 585 cases - an increase of 81 cases from the previous week.

If the rates are still high in some parts of South Yorkshire, such as Rotherham, it could prevent Sheffield from moving down to Tier 2 as it seems unlikely that the government would want to split the region up and move some into Tier 2 with others kept in Tier 3.

Earlier today, Sheffield Public Health Director Greg Fell said Sheffield is likely stay in Tier 3 due to the strain on the city’s hospitals although the number of positive cases have massively dropped.

“We have a significant number of people who have had Covid and now survived,” he said.

“But they have had complex illnesses, so they're going to be in the hospitals in a longer period of time. So, we have got a very, very little wiggle room.”

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What are the Tier restrictions based on?

Ministers analyse the following data:

– case detection rates in all age groups;

– case detection rates in the over-60s;

– the rate at which cases are rising or falling;

– the number of positive cases detected as a percentage of tests taken;

– pressure on the NHS, including current and projected occupancy.

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In these confusing and worrying times, local journalism is more vital than ever. Thanks to everyone who helps us ask the questions that matter by taking out a digital subscription or buying a paper. We stand together. Nancy Fielder, editor.