Construction sites will be allowed to continue to operate amid tighter coronavirus restrictions for swathes of the South East, after the government introduced a new “Tier 4”.
As cases continued to rise in London and parts of the South East, despite Tier 3 restrictions, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced new measures at the weekend.
Under the Tier 4 measures, no travel into a Tier 4 area from other parts of the UK is advised aside from a few specific reasons, including travel to work where you cannot work from home.
Construction has been listed among the activities critical to national infrastructure that mean workers will be allowed to continue to travel to their workplace.
Businesses deemed to be non-essential, such as hairdressers and leisure facilities will be forced to close. The changes will apply to around 20 million people living in London, Kent, Hertfordshire and Essex.
The new restrictions will be reviewed on 30 December but are expected to last for several months, according to health secretary Matt Hancock.
Meanwhile, Scotland has banned travel to and from the rest of the UK “other than for specific exemptions”.
