Will Oxfordshire be put into Tier 4?

Earlier a government minister warned 'further action’ may be needed to curb the spread of the new faster-spreading Covid-19 variant - which has now been found in Oxfordshire. 

Today the Government's Covid operations committee is set to decide whether to move more areas of England under Tier 4 to help stop the curb the spread.

The next official review of the Tiers will be on December 30, meaning areas like Oxfordshire, in Tier 2, could be put under tighter restrictions before the end of the year. 

Scroll down to see how Oxfordshire compares with other areas 

In Tier 4, households cannot meet outside of support bubbles, hospitality venues have to shut unless they operate a takeaway service and non-essential retail, gyms and accommodation must close. 

The latest figures from Oxfordshire County Council show that coronavirus cases have more than doubled in parts of the county. 

In the seven days leading up to December 18 there were:

• 503 cases in Cherwell (141% up on the week before)
• 440 cases in Oxford (58% up on the week before)
• 251 cases in South Oxfordshire (51% up on the week before)
• 245 cases in the Vale of White Horse (87% up on the week before) 
• 197 cases in West Oxfordshire (112% up on the week before) 

The government says the decisions on which area goes into which tier are based on five indicators: 

• case detection rates in all age groups
• case detection rates in the over-60s
• the rate at which cases are rising or falling
• positivity rate (the number of positive cases detected as a percentage of tests taken)
• pressure on the NHS

The indicators are designed to provide a full picture of what is happening with the virus in any area so that suitable action can be taken.

Here's how Oxfordshire compares with other areas also in Tier 2: 

From left to right, it reads: name of local authority; the tier of Covid-19 restrictions in which the local authority is currently placed; rate of new cases in the seven days to December 18; number (in brackets) of new cases recorded in the seven days to December 18; rate of new cases in the seven days to December 11; number (in brackets) of new cases recorded in the seven days to December 11.

Oxford, Tier 2, 288.6, (440), 183.0, (279)

• Wealden, Tier 2, 351.8, (568), 153.0, (247)
• Uttlesford, Tier 2, 341.8, (312), 165.4, (151)
• Eastbourne, Tier 2, 301.7, (313), 109.9, (114)
• Colchester, Tier 2, 289.2, (563), 117.6, (229)
• Mid Sussex, Tier 2, 285.4, (431), 133.1, (201)
• South Northamptonshire, Tier 2, 284.7, (269), 124.9, (118)
• Northampton, Tier 2, 283.6, (637), 225.7, (507)
• Wellingborough, Tier 2, 271.0, (216), 168.1, (134)
• Lewes, Tier 2, 265.3, (274), 103.6, (107)
• Adur, Tier 2, 264.4, (170), 84.0, (54)
• Scarborough, Tier 2, 263.0, (286), 171.0, (186)
• Crawley, Tier 2, 260.7, (293), 135.2, (152)
• Babergh, Tier 2, 259.7, (239), 104.3, (96)
• Tendring, Tier 2, 258.6, (379), 111.2, (163)
• Warrington, Tier 2, 250.5, (526), 147.1, (309)
• Norwich, Tier 2, 249.0, (350), 135.9, (191)
• Ipswich, Tier 2, 244.0, (334), 199.4, (273)
• Gloucester, Tier 2, 242.4, (313), 226.1, (292)
• Waverley, Tier 2, 237.5, (300), 132.2, (167)
• Arun, Tier 2, 227.7, (366), 111.3, (179)
• Redditch, Tier 2, 224.0, (191), 105.6, (90)
• King’s Lynn and West Norfolk, Tier 2, 220.6, (334), 143.3, (217)
• Brighton and Hove, Tier 2, 216.2, (629), 98.3, (286)
• Cheshire West and Chester, Tier 2, 212.2, (728), 123.0, (422)
• Broadland, Tier 2, 211.0, (276), 138.4, (181)
• Forest of Dean, Tier 2, 203.9, (177), 194.7, (169)
• Fenland, Tier 2, 196.4, (200), 126.7, (129)
• Cambridge, Tier 2, 195.5, (244), 97.8, (122)
• Great Yarmouth, Tier 2, 194.3, (193), 165.1, (164)
• Fareham, Tier 2, 193.6, (225), 104.1, (121)
• Southampton, Tier 2, 190.9, (482), 91.5, (231)
• Swindon, Tier 2, 189.5, (421), 115.2, (256)
• Bromsgrove, Tier 2, 189.2, (189), 215.3, (215)
• East Hampshire, Tier 2, 188.0, (230), 84.2, (103)
• Mid Suffolk, Tier 2, 186.7, (194), 71.2, (74)
• Carlisle, Tier 2, 185.0, (201), 110.4, (120)
• West Suffolk, Tier 2, 183.2, (328), 83.2, (149)
• South Lakeland, Tier 2, 181.8, (191), 139.9, (147)
• North Devon, Tier 2, 179.1, (174), 135.9, (132)
• Cheshire East, Tier 2, 175.2, (673), 119.5, (459)
• Daventry, Tier 2, 173.4, (149), 101.2, (87)
• Somerset West and Taunton, Tier 2, 171.5, (266), 89.0, (138)
• Halton, Tier 2, 170.8, (221), 113.6, (147)
• Sedgemoor, Tier 2, 169.7, (209), 121.0, (149)
• North Somerset, Tier 2, 168.8, (363), 129.3, (278)
• Wyre Forest, Tier 2, 167.8, (170), 129.3, (131)
• Winchester, Tier 2, 165.0, (206), 68.9, (86)
• South Norfolk, Tier 2, 164.7, (232), 98.0, (138)
• Kettering, Tier 2, 164.1, (167), 112.0, (114)
• Bristol, Tier 2, 163.2, (756), 118.0, (547)
• Basingstoke and Deane, Tier 2, 162.0, (286), 103.1, (182)
• South Somerset, Tier 2, 159.2, (268), 126.5, (213)
• Cotswold, Tier 2, 158.0, (142), 61.2, (55)
• East Northamptonshire, Tier 2, 156.6, (148), 148.1, (140)
• Huntingdonshire, Tier 2, 155.1, (276), 68.0, (121)
• Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole, Tier 2, 154.6, (611), 79.7, (315)
• East Devon, Tier 2, 153.1, (224), 127.1, (186)
• Mid Devon, Tier 2, 153.1, (126), 87.5, (72)
• Telford and Wrekin, Tier 2, 152.9, (275), 134.0, (241)
• Breckland, Tier 2, 151.5, (212), 96.5, (135)
• East Suffolk, Tier 2, 150.3, (375), 88.6, (221)
• Selby, Tier 2, 150.1, (136), 122.5, (111)
• Liverpool, Tier 2, 148.8, (741), 97.8, (487)
• Corby, Tier 2, 148.2, (107), 99.7, (72)
• West Devon, Tier 2, 147.0, (82), 77.1, (43)
• Stroud, Tier 2, 146.7, (176), 125.9, (151)
• Mendip, Tier 2, 146.2, (169), 116.8, (135)
• Wychavon, Tier 2, 146.0, (189), 112.8, (146)
• North Norfolk, Tier 2, 145.9, (153), 62.0, (65)
• Chichester, Tier 2, 143.6, (174), 78.4, (95)
• East Cambridgeshire, Tier 2, 143.6, (129), 103.5, (93)
• Tewkesbury, Tier 2, 140.0, (133), 96.8, (92)
• Worthing, Tier 2, 137.5, (152), 72.4, (80)
• St Helens, Tier 2, 137.3, (248), 117.4, (212)
• Cheltenham, Tier 2, 136.7, (159), 92.9, (108)
• Richmondshire, Tier 2, 134.0, (72), 85.6, (46)
• Exeter, Tier 2, 133.2, (175), 91.3, (120)
• Knowsley, Tier 2, 132.6, (200), 100.1, (151)
• Craven, Tier 2, 129.5, (74), 106.8, (61)
• Horsham, Tier 2, 127.3, (183), 101.5, (146)
• Worcester, Tier 2, 121.5, (123), 71.1, (72)
• Wirral, Tier 2, 121.3, (393), 73.8, (239)
• Allerdale, Tier 2, 120.7, (118), 61.4, (60)
• Test Valley, Tier 2, 120.5, (152), 62.6, (79)
• Bath and North East Somerset, Tier 2, 115.4, (223), 81.7, (158)
• York, Tier 2, 115.4, (243), 65.5, (138)
• Sefton, Tier 2, 113.6, (314), 68.7, (190)
• Torridge, Tier 2, 111.3, (76), 63.0, (43)
• Herefordshire, Tier 1, 107.4, (207), 52.4, (101)
• Malvern Hills, Tier 2, 105.5, (83), 44.5, (35)
• Wiltshire, Tier 2, 105.0, (525), 76.6, (383)
• Eastleigh, Tier 2, 104.8, (140), 60.6, (81)
• New Forest, Tier 2, 103.8, (187), 70.5, (127)
• Plymouth, Tier 2, 103.0, (270), 69.8, (183)
• Rutland, Tier 2, 102.7, (41), 132.7, (53)
• Hambleton, Tier 2, 100.4, (92), 48.0, (44)
• Ryedale, Tier 2, 97.5, (54), 66.8, (37)
• Teignbridge, Tier 2, 93.9, (126), 55.9, (75)
• Shropshire, Tier 2, 93.5, (302), 96.9, (313)
• Harrogate, Tier 2, 87.0, (140), 83.9, (135)
• Dorset, Tier 2, 79.5, (301), 44.4, (168)
• Barrow-in-Furness, Tier 2, 77.6, (52), 128.3, (86)
• South Hams, Tier 2, 70.1, (61), 32.2, (28)
• Torbay, Tier 2, 68.2, (93), 39.6, (54)
• Copeland, Tier 2, 32.3, (22), 23.5, (16)

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