Daily coronavirus briefing

All of Lancashire will move into Tier 4 Covid restrictions from 31st December, the Local Democracy Reporting Service understands. View email online

Subscribe Dec 30, 2020 Welcome to the eve of Tier 4 everyone. We can't really say it is a surprise, given that we had been hearing rumours for several days that changes were underway. For those of us who have been following the daily case figures (more than 50,000 a day recently) and seen the number of deaths rising towards 1,000 each day, further restrictions were inevitable. The rapid spread of the new variant of the disease added to the loosening of restrictions in some areas over Christmas must have given even the robust of experts a fair old wobble. I know that we will all be moaning about the stuff we can no longer do, places we can no longer go, people we can no longer see and businesses which can no longer stay open. But we need to steel ourselves once more and try to be positive if that is possible. We now have two vaccines approved and starting to roll out. By summer the vast majority of people who want one will have had one and we will be on our way out of this nightmare. We're being told to stay at home and stay safe, but just as important is to stay positive. We are nearly there. Until next time, take care, Gillian. Feel free to email me your views at gillian.parkinson@jpimedia.co.uk I would like to ask if those of you who do not yet subscribe to www.lep.co.uk or www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk would consider taking out a digital subscription. By doing so, you are supporting local, community journalism and helping to ensure that it survives and thrives. A subscription gives you unlimited access to the site, for all the news and sport you need - and more, including our newly-launched Puzzles section. You can subscribe here: https://www.lep.co.uk/subscriptions for the Post and here https://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/subscriptions for the Gazette. And thank you Stay safe, and best wishes. Gillian BREAKING: Tier 4 for ALL of Lancashire from 31st Dec All of Lancashire will move into Tier 4 Covid restrictions from 31st December, the Local Democracy Reporting Service understands. Lancashire in Tier 4: Your reaction to today's bad news Matt Hancock has announced that more areas will move into Tier 4, including the whole of Lancashire. Everything we know about the AstraZeneca/Oxford Covid-19 vaccine A Covid-19 vaccine from Oxford University and AstraZeneca has been approved for use in the UK, with the first jabs expected to be given on Monday (January 4). A man nearly died after drinking double the recommended daily amount of water in a bid to cure suspected coronavirus A man nearly died after drinking double the recommended daily amount of water - in a bid to cure suspected coronavirus. These areas of Preston have lower or higher Covid infection rates than the national average Covid rates have continued to drop across Preston in recent weeks. This is every confirmed case of Covid in the North West on Wednesday, December 30, 2020 Another 4,194 people have tested positive in the North West, bringing the region's total number of cases to 360,281 as of Wednesday, December 30, 2020. Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine approved in UK for mass roll-out A Covid-19 vaccine from Oxford University and AstraZeneca has been approved for use in the UK, paving the way for its mass roll-out in the next few days. View more news

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