Health Secretary Matt Hancock has today, Wednesday, announced tier changes across the country.

However, the whole of Hertfordshire including Hitchin will remain in Tier Four.

The following rules will remain in place at least for the next two weeks until the review:

Hospitality and non-essential retail will remain shut

A stay at home order is issued except for specific reasons, such as food shopping and medical reasons.

The only household mixing of any kind is with one other person outside.

Support bubbles with a single household will remain in place.

Schools will return as planned.

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More positive news came out today with the Oxford vaccine ready to use from Monday.

Latest on Covid

The latest Covid data in Stevenage and north Herts has shown rates are still rising.

In Stevenage, the number of people testing positive for Covid, in the seven days to December 24, was 543, meaning a rate of 523.6 per 100,000, an increase of 124 cases compared to the previous week.

This means more than 2,200 people have now tested positive for coronavirus in the town of Stevenage.

For north Herts including Hitchin, the number of people testing positive for coronavirus until Christmas Eve was 510, a rate of 351.5 per 100,000 - meaning 2,692 people have now tested positive in north Herts.

The average number of daily positive tests remains above 100 in Stevenage and north Herts.