the government has launched an offensive there against local forces. boris johnson's most senior aide, dominic cummings, is set to leave downing street at the end of the year. now on bbc news it's time for panorama. the city in the eye of the covid storm... you took us scousers for granted. now we stand shoulder to shoulder with the north west. ..first into the top tier of restrictions... have you got a mask? put it on, mate. it feels like we're in the land of the living dead. ..now the first place to get mass testing. i hit their hand off and i said absolutely, yes, let's have it, let's bring it on. this is a message for the people of liverpool. for you. let's start the fightback against covid. so how have people here handled the crisis? looking forward to

going back to school? it feels so, so good to be out. and will their sacrifices be worth it? i plead to people, beg people, beg them, to follow the rules. liverpool. a vibrant capital of culture. a tourism industry worth nearly £5 billion. and officially the best football team in the world. radio: liverpool city region is to be placed under tougher restrictions as the area is classed as high risk.

in this city, and probably most cities, the taxi drivers and cabbies are the litmus test of how well the city is doing. the taxi ranks are full and the shops are empty. gary's customers are few and far between — now liverpool's under tight restrictions. on a normal day, even, you know, late october, this area would be absolutely full of people. a sort of hive of activity. yeah. so, it's dead. it's absolutely dead at the moment. it's all come as the city — once a great port — has reinvented itself as a cultural and tourist destination. so this is the baltic area of liverpool. it's been redeveloped over the last ten years,

really exciting area. one of the crownjewels of the baltic is 24 kitchin street. don't watch what it looks like, wait until you get inside you'll realise the magic. yeah, looks intriguing. yaw runs some of liverpool's music festivals. this is a key venue. you've got to put this in context with what the cavern was maybe doing in the late '50s, early '60s. but it's silent now. it's a bit dusty, a bit sad. for yaw, it's not just a struggle for survival — but for the soul of the city. we've had a massive cultural renaissance here and we've been shouting from the rooftops all over the world what this city is about. if tier 3 continues or it

escalates and we can't do these things that we're known for, can't continue to grow in those areas that we're known for. then what does the city look like at that point? and yaw fears there'll be long term damage. when you turn on the news and it says liverpool's the worst, liverpool's the leader and it's out of control. those phrases are really starting to have a massive impact. the government's trying to avoid a national lockdown in england, as a second wave of coronavirus begins to break. only the liverpool's city region is under the toughest measures, with pubs that don't serve meals forced to close. some businesses are closed. stricter rules on meeting between households. no journeys that aren't essential. the government gives the region financial support — £41; million.

i go to talk to the city mayorjoe anderson — born and raised in liverpool. i grew up in the docks. you know, we had a tough upbringing. it was, er, you know, lived in poverty, depended on social services as a kid. that sense of community where i lived, are the things that drive me and keep me passionate about the best for our city. now in charge of that city, joe's had to implement the toughest rules in england to tackle covid. it was worrying, it was frightening because of the infection rates and the hospital admission rates were going up. we were putting out messages to try to stop people mixing, socialising, doing all of the things that, you know, we wanted them to do to stop the spread. but it wasn't working so, you know, we were really

concerned. i think the anxiety was palpable. just two days into tier 3, the mayor himself felt the full force of covid — his own brother, bill, became sick. he was taken into hospital, in icu. in the royal liverpool hospital, treated superbly by the staff. but within sort of eight, nine hours, he'd succumbed to the pressure of the coronavirus and died. not being able to say goodbye, not being able to be there, to hold his hand. that's, you know, it's devastating, it's heart—breaking. one and a half million people across the city region are now knuckling down under the new tier 3 rules. we wanted to know how people felt about it.

panorama carried out a poll of almost 900 people across the liverpool city region. 62% said they were in support of going into tier 3. people in the city have been touched, people in the city have been affected by covid. so it doesn't surprise me that 60%, i'm surprised it's as low as that, really. professor calum semple is on the government sage committee — and he lives just across the mersey. liverpool's a wonderful, vibrant city with quite a strong industrial base. the population is culturally very diverse as well. but we sadly do have pockets of some of the greatest multiple deprivation in britain, in fact in europe.

calum is a specialist in disease outbreaks — like coronavirus. tell me about liverpool's demographic, and why that feeds into the covid situation? the highest levels of covid activity mirror the areas where there's highest degrees of deprivation. and that's because there's been generations of poor diet, multiple occupancy within houses. viruses, they pick on people. they don't pick on the strong and the healthy. they pick on the weak. calum's own view is the first national lockdown in march ended too soon for the north west. while the south and south east were really at very very low levels, we were still seeing sustained transmission in the community. to put it into context, if this was a fire and the lockdown starved that fire of oxygen, then the fire went out in the south, to all intents and purposes. whereas in the north, the embers were still glowing.

and when the oxygen was put back in, the bonfire started again. we asked people how closely they were following the restrictions. 86% said they were sticking to the rules all or most of the time. but i keep hearing from people here that the rules don't all make sense. i'm on a ferry crossing the mersey to the wirral to visit one business that became the centre of a row over tier 3 rules. this is the body tech gym. i'm 79. but fully functional. ioo% operational. regulars like william rely on it and it's keeping him going. it's the social aspect of my life. i attend the gym six days a week.

it is my reason for living, if you like. under tier 3, all gyms across liverpool city region were told to close. nick is the owner here — he thought it was wrong. it's opening up wounds that had onlyjust started to heal and it's like, here we go again. this time it doesn't seem just. we don't have a high street any more, you know there's nothing left. it's literally all that's left in our little town. so for me personally it's everything. and i speak, i believe i speak for my members when i say it is for them as well. nick grew up here and as a teenager founded a free running club. when we were younger it's all we had to kind of channel our energy, you know. we lost our youth clubs and everything else quite early

so all we really had was each other. that community spirit‘s really stuck with me. now nick's got a battle on his hands. the data's unclear, but he argues there's only a small risk of gyms spreading the virus. we were going to stand strong, not because we were reckless but because we had the government's own data which supported our cause. how does it take an uneducated business owner from liverpool to articulate government's own data back to them? the first day — the police arrived in force. nick was fined £1000, but refused to close his gym. others in liverpool are also resisting the rules imposed by westminster. please sir, can i have some more? sorry, son, we don't give to the north. people take to the streets —

some covid deniers. others angry about money. i think that it puts people at risk of poverty, it's going to bring poverty to the city. frustrated about the rules. are you abiding by the rules? no, not abiding by them. just because it'sjust, i feel like it's a violation against my own freedom. i just feel like they're taking away, like, ourfreedom. you know, like our rights. you took us scousers for granted. we were the wrong city to test. and now we're shoulder to shoulder with the rest of the north west.

this car boot sale is still open in sefton. here, people who don't wear masks are a problem for dave. that's a nice neckerchief. he is trying his best to get people to stay safe. put your mask on. why are they keeping non essential shops open? but you have a car— boot sale? i don't know about you, but i breathe through my mouth, not my pocket. we just don't want to be on people's back all the time about it. however, they're starting to now get it now, the reason why. there's a chap who is a lovely, lovely man, who used to come here, and he wouldn't wear a mask. that it's not just here he's caught this. but he got it and he's died, he's died of covid—i9. it shocked the hell out of me.

i was like, i was, i physically stopped at the gate and i had tears in my eyes. every time we seen him, we asked him to wear a mask. and he wouldn't do it, because he was, "i don't need one. ah, it's a load of rubbish." oh god, he's dead, he's dead. people really need to say, "well hang on, what use are my civil rights, human rights, when i'm six foot under because i wouldn't put a mask on?" there is some government and council support in liverpool under tier 3, but deprived communities are feeling the pressure. for a century, the florrie has been at the heart of toxteth and dingle. they are going out to 200 children today. anne runs the centre. it's half term so they're focusing on getting food donations out to families. have you found that things have got worse for local families during tier 3? is there a recognisable

difference? absolutely. absolutely, there's a difference. what we're finding is we're seeing more and more people who are coming to us because they've lost theirjobs because of covid and because of tier 3 and the new lockdown. the team from the florrie is carrying out welfare checks in the neighbourhood. are you ok? are you coping ok? you got plenty of people coming to see you? it's only my daughter, that's all. my son comes, but he'll only stay at the door. it's hard for you not to see them as well, isn't it? yes. people are so confused about it, so — especially older people. they're worried. they'll stay in and wait until they're told what they can and cannot do. but there's been so many different messages around what tier 3 means. a lot of people are scared to go to the shops. you know, they're scared to leave their homes, a lot of people.

near the florrie, i'm meeting someone who is doing her best to follow the rules. hello! how are you? hello! you must be rachel. very nice to meet you. i'mjane. rachel's son has to self—isolate. like thousands of children in liverpool, he's been sent home because someone in his class got the virus. his character's completed changed in lockdown. to get back to school in september was amazing for him, but i feel us being isolated and sent home last thursday... he keeps dropping in conversation again, "oh, mummy, i want to go back to school. we're not going back into lockdown, are we, mum?" you know you have your good days, you have your bad days, people are calling it

the 'corona—coaster‘. i'm trying my best to do what i can to stay upbeat. rachel agrees with the restrictions. jarron has a medical condition that makes him vulnerable to the virus. it's not really good on people's well—being and mental health. seems no end, like there's no end to this. it's the night before halloween in the streets around the florrie and it's traditional for kids to be out making mayhem. firecrackers pop. the police are keeping a watchful eye. people shouldn't be out mixing in large groups. in the last three weeks, more than 230 fines have been issued across merseyside for breaking covid rules. but there's good news for one man in his stand—off with the law. bbc radio merseyside.

the mayor of the liverpool city region has exclusively revealed gyms will now be able to reopen. the government's changed its mind. nick's no longer breaking the law by keeping his gym open. what does that mean, looking up there and seeing your door open to the street now? it means everything, notjust to myself but to our community. it's incredible. i've experienced no feeling like it before in my life. you know, it's a victory — not just for me, not just for our region, but for the country as a whole. this is a good day. it's a really good day for all of us. a victory for nick and the gym, but there's bad news for liverpool. liverpool's hospitals are now treating more people with coronavirus than they were in the peak in april. hospital beds

are filling up fast. the virus is out of control and takes no prisoners... so concerned is the council, it's sent cameras into the city's main hospital, the royal. the mayor gives the public a stark message. i'm telling you that your actions can and will make a difference. our wards are becoming very, very full. so many people are dying of covid across the liverpool region. so many families affected by the tragedy. i'm off to meet someone who's just lost a loved one. hi,jane. jack, how nice to see you. i'm really sorry

to disturb you. don't worry! such a difficult time for you and your family. just tell us a bit about pamela. was she younger than you or older than you? no, she was older than me. she was ten years older than me. i see, isee, 0k. she said, "this is my baby brother." she was proud of me. she come to my passing out when i was in the army. i was 17 years of age and that was the most proudest day of my life. and mum was there, my sister. jack was with his sister pamela at aintree hospital when she died. the nurse and the doctors are running round, running round, and i just felt for them. they're marvellous, they were angels, and you know, the doctors were just superhuman. it must have been so hard. what it is is i've seen it. i've seen the nhs breaking under the strain. they're not broke yet

but they're breaking. they're nearly there. i've not seen my grandkids and my children for weeks and months. you know, it hurts, but i don't want to die, i don't want them to die. i want to see them, i want a good life. if you don't follow the rules, we'll be in this lockdown again and lockdown again and lockdown again and lockdown again because you're not following the rules. and i just say to — i plead to people, i beg people — beg! — to follow the rules. because do you want your sister to die? do you want your dad to die? do you want your brothers to die? your sons? no, you don't. i'm sorry. there's a glimmer of hope for the city. there's a time lag between people getting the virus

and then being admitted to hospital. and the infection rate has started to drop. so, is tier 3 working for liverpool? it's very hard to say that it's working or working well enough. my personal opinion is that it's led to a decrease in transmission, but not enough. so, if you like, the outbreak has risen, starting to plateau. but it's plateauing at a bad place. it's not coming down. so we've got high levels of activity of covid in the community, high admission rates and high admission rates to intensive care, and they will result in deaths. notjust in liverpool — the government is saying its data predicts a high death toll across the country. its scientists are warning the virus is spreading too quickly, despite the sacrifices made by people under local restrictions. earlier, i'd met

elaine and peter. their business was struggling under tier 3. they ran three spanish restaurants in the north west, two of them in liverpool. they'd already had to make tough decisions. following the march lockdown, they were forced to close one restaurant, making a third of their staff redundant. we were predicting catastrophic losses of about £14,000 to £15,000 a week. that would have collapsed the whole company, so that's why we made that decision. we'd planned a zoom call. and i think eventually, we did it between nine and ten, as we were trying to... trying to get the courage to give people, you know,

some really, you know, what was going to be awful news — theirjobs were disappearing and, you know, we didn't say this but, you know, the reality was going to be that no—one was going to find it easy to get another job. we know that if our business fails, then 60—odd people will lose theirjobs, and that's going to have a massive, massive impact on them and their families. so, yeah, it'sjust a huge, huge responsibility to try and not let that happen, and to try and survive into next year. lunya had stayed open under tier 3, yet few people came because of the restrictions. it feels like we're in this land of the living dead at the moment, waiting for an announcement to say, "right, it's full closure". and for us at the moment, full closure would be more beneficial than the state we're in at the moment. the city region found £40 million to support hospitality

and leisure under tier 3. peter and elaine have had some financial help. back in september, they wanted a national lockdown, not local restrictions — they thought their business would have a better chance of survival. people in england are facing a new lockdown, scheduled to last a month. i mean, sadly not remotely surprised but profoundly disappointed and frustrated that it is — it's like groundhog day. i was with peter as the prime minister announced a second national lockdown. pubs, bars, restaurants must close... and how do you think you and people in liverpool feel, having gone through tier 3 and now to hear this? i think there's a very sad and smug, "we told you so". more livelihoods would've been saved in september.

locally, we're having to suffer further because nationally they're behind the curve. and it's like a double whammy for us. this time, schools are staying open during lockdown. morning, rachel! morning! how are you doing? hi, morning, jarron. how are you? it's a relief for rachel, now jarron‘s finished his quarantine. looking forward to taking him back to school? feels so good to get back out! how about you, jarron? looking forward to school? excited to see your friends and your teachers. for now, they're making the most of it. it's still like dangling a carrot in front of us saying, "come on, you can come out now but we don't know what's coming on the next week's news". that evening, the city locks down, along with the rest of england. nick closes his gym once more.

scumbags! scumbags! some people are back in the streets here, still denying the dangers of covid, angry at the authorities. nearly 2,000 people have died in the city region during the pandemic. but after everything liverpool's been through, it's been thrown a lifeline. if you live or work in liverpool, you can get tested, whether you have symptoms or not. and people are queuing round the block to take advantage of it. anyone in liverpool can now be tested. the city's at the forefront for a mass testing programme, supported by the army. those with no symptoms can attend these centres to help stop the virus spreading undetected.

the mayor seized the opportunity when the government came calling. i bit their hand off and i said absolutely yes, so let's have it, let's bring it on. if it's successful — and i think it will be — then what it can help us do as well is notjust here in liverpool or liverpool city region, or the north west, it can help us across the country. it means people can try to go back to a sort of normal. i promise you, you won't find a more resilient and tougher group of people than scousers. many, many people have tried in the past to stamp on us and tread us down and not many have succeeded. we'll get through it. we'll unite and come through it.

welcome to bbc news — i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: with president trump still refusing to concede the election, barack obama accuses senior us republicans of undermining democracy. it's one more step in delegitimising, notjust the incoming biden administration, but democracy in general. it's official — aung san suu kyi's ruling party wins myanmar‘s general election. in nagorno—karabakh, the ethnic armenians burning their own houses down to prevent them falling into the hands of their enemies.