Will Mansfield remain in Tier 3 or move to Tier 2?

According to data from Public Health England, Mansfield recorded 130 confirmed cases in the week to December 8 – a drop of 23 cases, or 15 percent, from the previous week.

Mansfield’s seven-day infection rate stands at 118.9 per 100,000 people, compared with London’s rate of 224.7 per 100,000 population.

In the week to December 4, the town had 129 confirmed cases and a rate of 118 infections per 100,000 – significantly lower than the previous seven days of 267.1 cases, in the week to November 27.

This means the infection rate has reduced by half within three weeks.

Mansfield, together with the rest of Nottinghamshire, is currently under the highest lockdown restrictions, which means pubs and restaurants are only allowed to operate as a takeaway and household mixing is banned indoors.

The Government is due to review the tier system on December 16, with any changes in tiers for any area set to be announced before being put in place from Saturday, December 19.

London, which is currently under Tier 2, is set to move to the highest tier due to its high infection rate, it was announced earlier this week.

There are reports suggesting that Mansfield could remain in Tier 3 as one of the key deciding factors is the pressure on the hospitals and the number of patients has not been dropping consistently or fast enough.

The Department of Health said decisions on tier levels are based on several factors, including case rates in all age groups and especially among the over 60s.

The five factors are, case detection rates in all age groups, case detection rates in the over-60s, the rate at which cases are rising or falling, the positivity rate – the number of positive cases detected as a percentage of tests taken and the pressure on the NHS, including current and projected occupancy.

The final decisions will be made by Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the Covid Operations Committee.