A digital Christmas awaits: South Yorkshire tier three rules may remain longer than 28 days, top health official says

‘I hope I’m wrong but I sense it will take more than a few weeks to bring case numbers down’

People walk past a display featuring health advice in Sheffield city centre (AFP via Getty Images)

More than 1.4 million people in South Yorkshire may not be allowed to see relatives this Christmas, Sheffield’s director of public health has indicated.

The region has just been placed under the country’s tightest tier three coronavirus restrictions in a bid to curb infection rates.

It means that pubs, casinos and soft play centres must now remain closed while people are banned from meeting anyone from other households in almost any setting.

But hopes that the measures may be lifted after a quick month-long intervention have now been dashed by Greg Fell, Sheffield’s top health official.

He said: "I hope I'm wrong but I sense it will take more than a few weeks.”

Given that the government guidelines currently say tier three reviews will only take place every 28 days, if the restrictions were kept for longer than the initial four week period, it would mean they were still be active right to the run up to Christmas.

That would effectively leave families unclear if they could gather over the festive period or not, leading to what is already being labelled a “digital Christmas”.

Speaking to BBC Sheffield, Mr Fell said: “I think the numbers would have to get an awful lot lower than they are now for us to be moved back in to tier two.

"The numbers are quite high and they are going up so we've got to turn that corner and get them going back down again.”

Rates across the county currently stand at 486 cases per 100,000 people in Barnsley, 415 in Sheffield, 407 in Rotherham 407 and 393 in in Doncaster 393. The average in England is 117.

It remains unclear how exactly an area, once placed in tier three, moves out of it again.

The government’s most substantive comment on the question so far has come from communities secretary Robert Jenrick who said only that measures would remain "as long as they are absolutely necessary".

Julia Burrows, director of public health Barnsley, said it was too soon to say when the town would be ready to move out of tier three and it would "depend on people adhering to the new guidelines".

Meanwhile, in a letter to residents, Dan Jarvis – the Sheffield City Region’s mayor and also an MP for Barnsley Central – urged people to "do their bit" and stick to the new rules.

He wrote: After the progress we made over the summer, the return to stricter restrictions is deeply frustrating.

"Many of you will be fearing for your families, your livelihoods, your future. Some of you will be wondering if these measures are worth it. Those feelings are understandable.

"But we should be under no illusions: these measures are needed. The scientific advice is that they can help.

"We still have a difficult path ahead, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. These restrictions will help us reach it sooner, and at a lower cost."