Thousands expected for second Grantham A&E protest march

All of Greater Lincolnshire, including North and North East Lincolnshire, will be put into the toughest COVID restrictions (tier 3) from December 2.

The government website launched this morning to show tier restrictions by postcode crashed.

Newark will be in tier 3 along with the whole of Nottinghamshire, as well as all our neighbouring counties, except Cambridgeshire (tier 2).

Tier 3 means all shops can open but pubs and restaurants are only allowed to stay open for takeaway services, similarly to now.

Barbers and salons will be able to reopen but travelling outside of Lincolnshire is not advised, unless for work, care or education.

Entertainment venues such as cinemas and theatres won’t be able to reopen.

Schools, universities and places of worship will stay open, though may be subject to household bubbles.

Unlike the previous tier 3 rules, gyms will be able to open and people will be allowed to take part in outdoor sports such as golf, tennis and Sunday football.

The rule of six will apply outdoors but there will be no mixing of households.

Weddings and funerals, exercise classes and organised sport can all go ahead. Wedding receptions will not be allowed

The government continues to request people aim to work from home if possible.

Tier-three areas will also be eligible for the mass testing pilot which uses rapid or “lateral flow” coronavirus tests and gives results in about 20 minutes without the need for a lab.

NHS Test and Trace and the armed forces will support the local health leaders to deliver the programme.

Prior to today’s announcement Lincolnshire leaders had expressed concerns over a blanket ban on the region and on Wednesday voted to write to government calling for more localised restrictions and control.

There were 508 new coronavirus cases and 29 COVID-related deaths in Greater Lincolnshire on Wednesday.

The average infection rate for Lincolnshire is 289.5 per 100,000 people.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “We’re approaching the end of a year where we’ve asked so much of the British people.

“And in response to this unprecedented threat to lives and to livelihoods, the British people have well and truly risen to the challenge by coming together to slow the spread and support each other.

“I know how difficult this has been, especially for those areas that have been in restrictions for so long. “I’m so grateful for the resolve that people have shown throughout the crisis thanks to this shared sacrifice.

“We’ve been able to announce that we will not be renewing our national restrictions in England. Scientific and medical Advice shows that “we must make the tears tougher than they were before, to protect the NHS through the winter.

“These decisions are not easy, but they are necessary.

There have been 508 new coronavirus cases and 29 COVID-related deaths in Greater Lincolnshire on Wednesday.

The government’s COVID-19 dashboard recorded 355 new cases in Lincolnshire, 72 in North Lincolnshire and 81 in North East Lincolnshire.

It also registered 17 deaths in Lincolnshire, two in North Lincolnshire and 10 in North East Lincolnshire. These figures include deaths both in and out of hospitals, as well as residents in hospitals outside the county.

It means there have been 13,011 cases so far this month and 325 deaths.

NHS England reported 12 local hospital deaths on Wednesday, including six at United Lincolnshire Hospital Trust, five at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust and one at Lincolnshire Community Health Service

On Wednesday, national cases increased by 18,213 to 1,557,007 while deaths rose by 696 to 56,533.

The national daily deaths figure is the highest since May.

Lincolnshire’s coronavirus cases up to November 25.

In local news today, a meeting of the Lincolnshire Coronavirus Outbreak Board agreed to pen a letter to government calling on responsibility for restrictions to be placed with the county’s public health department.

It comes after Boston and Skegness MP Matt Warman said his constituency area was “highly likely” to be placed into the toughest restrictions.

In the UK, scientists have warned of a third wave of COVID-19 after Christmas. It is feared that easing restrictions over the holiday period will result in rising cases of the virus and subsequently overwhelm the NHS.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has told MPs of the “economic emergency” the UK is in due to the coronavirus pandemic. In his Spending Review, Mr Sunak announced a public sector pay freeze, a cut to foreign aid spending and pay rises for over a million nurses, doctors and other NHS staff.

Lincoln man Andrew Weavers, known as Arnie, died in a Lincoln fishing lake this summer after taking drugs and drowning, an inquest heard.

Arnie, who was 27 when he died, had been out socialising with friends during the evening of August 12 and shortly before midnight he was part of a group of young people who gathered at Starmers Pit in Lincoln, located near Sainsbury’s supermarket.

During the early hours of August 13, Arnie joined other members of his group swimming. He did not appear to be in any distress and was seen to go under the water, but did not resurface, an inquest earlier this month heard.

The body of Arnie was recovered later that morning after underwater searches were carried out.

Police said at the time the death was not being treated as suspicious and an inquest was opened on August 28.

The inquest was then heard before HM Acting Senior Coroner Paul Smith at the Myle Cross Centre on November 13.

The coroner was told how Arnie consumed a modest amount of alcohol and also taken a quantity of both ketamine and cocaine.

The medical cause of death was confirmed at the inquest as asphyxia, drowning and ketamine misuse.

It was also noted in the record of inquest that “on the balance of probabilities his death was the unintended consequence of his decision to go swimming having consumed both drugs and alcohol”.

The conclusion of the coroner as to the death was misadventure.

Tributes poured in for Arnie after his death and a fundraiser to honour him raised over £2,900.