A tier-three lockdown could come to Sheffield within weeks, warns health boss

‘It’s a matter of when, not if’


Sheffield’s health boss has issued a stark warning that the city could be plunged into a tier-three lockdown.

It would see the tightest restrictions enforced, with bars and restaurants not serving food forced to shut. Sheffield is currently on a tier-two lockdown and indoor-mixing of households is banned.

Greg Fell, director of Public Health for Sheffield, said: “My sense is it will come, the numbers are going upwards. It’s difficult to tell when, where and how.

“These things are moving in the space of days and weeks and not months. If it happens it’s going to be weeks away at most. It’s only a matter of when, not if.”

It comes after cases at both Sheffield universities passed 1,700. Teaching at the University of Sheffield was moved online for a ‘transition period’ last week, and Sheffield Hallam is facing calls to do the same.

University of Sheffield first-year hotspots Endcliffe and Ranmoor are amongst the places most infected, coming third in the gov’s MSOA figures.

Mr Fell continued: “The restriction on social mixing is about slowing the rate of growth. The behaviours and choices that 585,000 people make in their own homes, that will be the thing that really makes the difference.

“It probably makes sense to act sooner rather than later but then there’s the whole social and economic harm that needs to go into the mix.”

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