MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th December, 2020) New research conducted by the UK Labour Party has shown that local councils across England are struggling to fund lockdown grants for businesses as half of the areas currently under tier 2 restrictions have seen COVID-19 infection rates rise over the past three weeks, The Guardian newspaper reports on Sunday.
According to the research, more than half of councils in England currently under tier 2 restrictions, which accounts for roughly 17.5 million people, have seen a rise in the rate of COVID-19 infection since the end of November, the newspaper said.
The party has warned that more regions could be placed in tier 3, England's highest COVID-19 alert level, in a government review of the measures expected this coming week, according to the newspaper.
Tier 3 measures require hospitality venues to close except for those serving takeout and delivery customers, and Labour has warned that many local councils are already struggling to fund self-isolation grants designed to help businesses stay afloat, the newspaper stated.
In total, 16 of the 38 councils that provided data said that they will run out of grant money by the end of January, the newspaper stated, adding that many businesses were also having their applications rejected.
England's three-tiered COVID-19 alert level system came back into force following the end of a one-month nationwide lockdown on December 2. On Saturday, the UK Department of Health and Social Care registered 21,502 new positive tests for COVID-19.
The United Kingdom's case total stands in excess of 1.8 million, and more than 73,100 people have died with COVID-19 listed on their death certificate, according to government data.
