was system, was effective against the old variants. in fact, there is an interesting study being published today in the lancet, that the old variant, tests against those three tiers, the critical question is tier for working against the new variant, and just as you asked in your question, we have made sure that the tier 4 measures do as much as is reasonably possible. but it all depends on how people actually behave. you know, this is a partnership. there are so much that we can do, in terms of setting the rules and legislating from government, with all of the consequences that those actions have. but there is something that every single person can and should do, especially with the vaccine. actually i was about to say on the horizon, it is not on the horizon, it is here, it is being injected into people's arms right now, and

with just the time to get the vaccine left to be rolled out, we should all be extremely careful about the social interactions that we have, because it is, yes, about the rules that we set in government, but it is actually about how every single person acts, and the good thing is that throughout this crisis, the vast majority of people have acted in a really responsible way. they've done their bit. and of course it is easy to see pictures of people running the trains and what have you, but actually that has been a small minority, so let's all stick at it and not give into temptation, and that way will be able to get through it and make sure that tier 4 is indeed effective against the new variant. there was a further question embedded. there was, i think about kate —— about case rate rises and how a translate to the

nhs. obviously you can see from the slides that that sharp rise in cases is going to need some stopping, and as the secretary of state has said, this is not something that can be orchestrated, this is something which we all have to do, and however sad a time of year it is to be reminded that we need to behave that way, it is a very stark reminder that we do need to manage our own behaviours, keep our distances. as i said earlier, there is no reason at the moment to suggest the new variant will, if you like, turn into a more severe disease or more deaths, but clearly if we have more cases, then we will see rising numbers, and those numbers are rising quite quickly now. but it is not inevitable that they will. if we do all take those behaviours, limit the number of people we are with, those numbers are not inevitable rises and one area where it is

important to highlight, obviously ca re important to highlight, obviously care homes and the elderly are areas where we have seen very significant rates, sadly, of deaths before and serious cases. there are significant measures in place now, and the secretary of state has obviously highlighted this afternoon that testing is going in urgently in response to these rising case rates. soi response to these rising case rates. so i think with all the hard work, which the care home staff have been putting in, and the residents themselves of course, in quite difficult circumstances, there are opportunities for us to ensure that these cases do not automatically translate through into hospital cases. thanks, rob. it's on us all. jane merrick at the i. cases. thanks, rob. it's on us all. jane merrick at the i. to the health secretary first of all, you said tier} is secretary first of all, you said tier 3 is not enough to contain the new variant and it is spreading at a dangerous rate, and across the country, hospital patients is at the peak in spring. reports this morning

that the new variant has seeded across the country. we are now hearing of a second new variant from south africa. so why aren't we going into a full lockdown across the whole country, and if i could ask the medics, neil ferguson said this morning that there is a statistically significant, albeit small, evidence of an increased proportion of infections among the under15 proportion of infections among the under 15 is. is there a case for itibss under 15 is. is there a case for mass testing in primaries, and perhaps a staggered return for primaries as well as secondaries? thanks very much, jane. so the a nswer to thanks very much, jane. so the answer to the first question is that the new variant is highly concentrated, and the stay—at—home rule in the east, the south—east and london is aimed at keeping this new variant from spreading across the country, and that's why we've taken the approach that we have, in terms of the tiering and expanding the

number of areas that are in tier 4. on the education question, i'm going to ask susan to answer on the virology and then jenny to answer to ask susan to answer on the virology and thenjenny to answer on the question of the consequences, especially for schools. so firstly, we have no evidence this virus is more transmissible in children, yet, but what we do know is that when this virus took off, the children we re this virus took off, the children were one of the few things that were happening as a result of the restrictions that were still happening and mixing, so was it more likely that the —— so it was more likely that the —— so it was more likely the transmission could start in that place and we have seen that especially younger age teenagers have seen a higher number of infections. there is much less infections. there is much less infection in primary school children, and we've seen that throughout the pandemic to date. we will constantly take the decisions with the experts in education over what is best for the children, along with controlling the virus, and i will hand over to jenny to add

with controlling the virus, and i will hand over tojenny to add some more. just to add to that, i think, as susan has said, we look historically going back a few months now, what happen when we had very significant rates of the original variant covid virus in the north, we did see rises in cases in children there but they were very much lower than they were in the adult population. they did rise quite steeply in teenagers, and i think we do know that there is transmission, but as susan has said, it is generally lower as you go down the age groups, and it is extremely difficult to untangle what the children are doing. so there is perhaps an assumption that if children are at home they won't transmit disease, but we have to be really clear that that is the case. schools are very controlled environments, in many cases, and so we know what children are doing there, and it is very difficult to disentangle for example what a child is doing in school, what a child is doing at the school gates, or on the

way to school, or in their community, so i think education is really important for children and we shouldn't jump to the really important for children and we shouldn'tjump to the conclusion that just because every shouldn'tjump to the conclusion thatjust because every child is in school that that is a significant place for transmission, and as susan has said, there is a lot of work ongoing, and continuous studies, to try and understand this and a little bit more detail. thank you, jane. merry christmas. next question is from sam lister at the express. thank you, secretary of state. with the oxford vaccine on the brink of being approved and 100 million doses on order, how soon do you think you will be able to stand before us and say that the vast majority of the british public have been vaccinated, and this virus is beaten? and how many people do you expect to be vaccinated before easter? 0h, sam, you're so tempting. i really want to have a stab at the answer, but the truth is we just don't know. it

depends on the speed of manufacture. iam depends on the speed of manufacture. i am really thrilled that the full data has been passed to the regulator, and i have every confidence that the regulator will look at it with great capability. i wa nt to look at it with great capability. i want to put no pressure on them, in terms of the decision or the timing of the decision, it is absolutely a matter for them. but then we've a lwa ys matter for them. but then we've always said that the vast majority of the vaccinations will be in the new year, and i think that, you know, our vaccination programme started before most people expected it to, we've made really good strides over the month of december so strides over the month of december so far, and we will go as fast as we possibly can. this will be a big task for the nhs. what i would say, in terms of the number of people vaccinated, is that we will, i think we will get there by the spring. and, you know, people should therefore just hold on and really

tried to resist temptation to do things that they shouldn't, and to see people that they don't need to come and i know that that is tough, and it's going to be a tough winter, but the more people do that, then more quickly we will get through this together. i wish i could give you a more direct answer than that, but we just aren't there yet. the true answer will be as fast as we possibly can. the final question from the huff post. hello. people are pinning their hopes on the vaccine allowing a return to normality in a few months, but professor stephen evans of the london school of hygiene and tropical medicine suggested this week that the uk wouldn't be able to go back to normal until half the population had been vaccinated, and there are some suggestions that might not happen until 2022, unless rates of the virus are very low.

given the emergence of a highly transmissible new variant, has the government over promised yet again in suggesting a return to normality? no, iam in suggesting a return to normality? no, i am highly confident we will get things back to normal before 2022, based on the speed at which we can roll out the vaccine, not least because it is really important that the speed of roll—out of the vaccine is accelerating. all the time, we're adding more places to wear the vaccine is being deployed from, and so we are vaccine is being deployed from, and so we are accelerating the pace of the roll—out. if you take the current pace and take that as a given, then without an acceleration, you would get to the wrong calculation for the speed at which this vaccine is going to be rolled out. but each venue that we open for vaccinations has to be approved, is to be got right, it is very, very important, because you've got to make sure that the vaccine gets on people's arms in a safe way, so that

we know that they are safe but also that the vaccine works will stop that's why we are not putting projections on these figures, and precisely, as you say, to make sure that we only commit to that which we know we can deliver. i don't know if there is anything to add, susan? no, iagree, there is anything to add, susan? no, i agree, the sooner we vaccinate people, the better, but it will take some time. that's right. thanks very much indeed. thanks, everyone. that ends this coronavirus briefing and the final thing to say is i wish you all a happy christmas. studio: a happy christmas, yes, a lot of families around the country will be struggling this christmas, no question about that. matt hancock, the health secretaryjoined by drjenny harries, deputy chief medical officer for england and by drjenny harries, deputy chief medical officerfor england and dr susan hopkins from public health england at that coronavirus briefing, matt hancock said he hoped it would be the last one before

christmas. let's all hope that is the case. let's recap the main points from that conference now. the health secretary said from boxing day, norfolk, suffolk, cambridgeshire and essex would move into the toughest tear of restrictions, tier 4, along with oxfordshire, waverly in surrey, and hampshire, including portsmouth and southampton, but excluding the new forest. more areas of england will move into tier 3, including bristol, somerset, gloucestershire, the isle of wight, the new forest, northamptonshire, cheshire and warrington. the health secretary also said two new cases of a another new variant of coronavirus had been detected in the uk. both are contacts detected in the uk. both are co nta cts of detected in the uk. both are contacts of cases who travel to the uk from south africa. anyone who has travelled from south africa or had contact with someone who has been there in the last fortnight must quarantine for the next two weeks. let's ta ke quarantine for the next two weeks. let's take a look at what the restrictions in areas in tier 4

actually mean. well, a stay at home order will be issued to residents, although those who have to travel for education or work may continue to do so. social mixing will be restricted to votes meeting one other person in an open, public space. all nonessential retail will have to close, along with hairdressers and nail bars and indoor entertainment venues. indoor leisure facilities must close, like james and indoor swimming pools. people shouldn't leave a tier 4 area, except for limited reasons, including work and education, and the guidance for the clinically extremely vulnerable is to stay—at—home as much as possible, and if they can't go to work, please work from home. they should not go to work. our political correspondent jonathan blake joins us to work. our political correspondent jonathan blakejoins us now from westminster. an extension of the tier 4 restrictions was to be expected. are these the areas that perhaps we were all thinking would now be included ?

perhaps we were all thinking would now be included? yes, the expectation was certainly this afternoon after the covid meeting of senior cabinet ministers, chaired by the prime minister and government officials and advisers as well, that it would be confined to the south and south—east of england, for now. those areas to move into tier 4. so, as you have outlined there, some of those areas going into tier 4 that weren't already in that bracket, sussex, oxfordshire, norfolk and suffolk, all of surrey now, all parts of essex as well, cambridgeshire and hampshire, although not the new forest, will now be under that highest level of restrictions, and you saw the graphs in the press conference there. it's clearly a response to the new variants of coronavirus, which in the words of the health secretary matt hancock is spreading at a dangerous rate. in the last week, he said, there has been close to 2000 admissions per day to hospital, with cases of coronavirus, and it is vital, he said, that the government acts. it is better to do that he

said sooner rather than later, when it becomes a case of when, not if, so it becomes a case of when, not if, so in advance of the first scheduled review of the tiering system, these new restrictions will come in on boxing day. jonathan, thank you. you are watching bbc news. now, time for a look at all the weather with sarah keith—lucas. now, time for a look at all the weather with sarah keith-lucas. for the rest of today, a real north—south split to our weather, with contrasts and temperature certainly. the scotland and northern ireland, turning colder, clearer with some scattered showers, england and wales, still very mild and also pretty wet as well, so we have low pressure bringing further outbreaks of rain, could be some localised flooding across parts of england and wales because this rain is falling in pretty saturated ground. the winds also feature, picking up, through the english channel, they could be some gales for a time, rein in the south pushing southwards and eastwards, further north, clearing skies and a cold northerly wind blowing in some scattered showers. they will be falling on fairly chilly ground across parts of

scotland, there could be some snow particularly over hills, some iciness as well, further south, some frost to start off your christmas eve. heading through tomorrow then. christmas eve, high sets out to the west of the uk, so quite a lot of dry weather around but the winds will be coming from a northerly direction, so the blue colours across the map, it will be much chillier on christmas eve than it has been recently. a lot of dry, sunny weather to be enjoyed, but some scattered showers along the east coast, could be a little wintry for the north yorkshire moors, north scotla nd for the north yorkshire moors, north scotland as well, wintry flurries. a lot of dry weather elsewhere. temperatures three to 8 degrees, it will feel chilly, particularly where you are exposed to the northerly wind. then heading thursday night into friday, heading right into the big day itself, christmas day. high—pressure still very much the dominating feature, so a cold start your christmas morning, in fact sub zero a cross your christmas morning, in fact sub zero across the board. cold and frosty first thing. still a bit of a

brisk northerly blowing around the east coast of finland, could be the odd wintry flurry, some showers late in the day for scotland and northern ireland. further south it should remain dry, temperatures on the chilly side for christmas day, quite a cool, frosty field to the weather, around four to 7 degrees for most of us. around four to 7 degrees for most of us. boxing day, a much more u nsettled us. boxing day, a much more unsettled story here. outbreaks of rain heading in from the north and the west, some snow over the high ground of scotland, dry weather further south and east but we are back into double figures in the south. io back into double figures in the south. 10 degrees or so. pretty wet and particularly windy across the board for boxing day. then it remains unsettled for further spells of rain, turning cold again through sunday and into monday. goodbye for now.

this is bbc news. the top stories. more of the east and south—east of england will enter the toughest tea of restrictions on boxing day. the home secretary said it is difficult but necessary. this is not news anybody wants to deliver and i am truly sorry for the disruption it causes, but i think people know how important it is that we take decisions like this to keep people safe and protect the nhs. matt hancock also confirmed two cases of a different, new covid variant in the uk from south africa, saying all those who travelled from the country must quarantine immediately. the talks in brussels continue with suggestions opposed brexit trade deal could be finalised within

hours. and there is continued disruption in dover. the borders have reopened with france but thousands of lorry drivers are still waiting for their covid tests. hello, welcome to bbc news. in the last half an hour matt hancock held a news conference in downing street to confirm more areas of england will move into tier 4, the highest level of coronavirus restrictions. people must stay at home, non—essential retail is closed and movement in or out of the area isn't allowed. let's recap the main points. the health secretary said from boxing day, norfolk, suffolk, cambridgeshire and essex would move into ts four along with oxfordshire,