LONDON -- Most people in England will continue to face tight restrictions on socializing and business after a nationwide lockdown ends next week, with pubs and restaurants ordered to remain shut in areas that are home to more than 20 million people.
The government announced details Thursday of three-level regional measures that will take effect Wednesday.
More than half of England's 56 million people, including London's 8.6 million residents, are in the middle level, where most shops, restaurants and leisure businesses can open -- with some restrictions -- and audiences can return in limited numbers to theaters and sports stadiums.
Another 23 million people in a huge chunk of central and northern England, including the large cities of Birmingham and Manchester, along with the large southeastern county of Kent, will be placed in the top tier, where pubs and restaurants can serve only takeout and delivery, and leisure venues such as cinemas and bowling alleys must stay closed. Shops, gyms, hairdressers and beauty parlors will be able to open across the country, however.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said "tough measures" would be needed until spring, when it's hoped a combination of vaccines and mass testing can help life return to normal.
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"If we ease off now we risk losing control over this virus all over again, casting aside our hard-won gains and forcing us back into a New Year national lockdown, with all the damage that would mean," he said.
The government imposed a four-week lockdown in England early this month to curb a surge in cases, with travel restricted and nonessential businesses closed. The government's statistics office says the infection rate appears to have leveled off, but Health Secretary Matt Hancock said "we must remain vigilant."
The measures must be approved by Parliament, which is due to vote next week. Johnson faces opposition from some of his own Conservative Party lawmakers, who say the economic damage from the measures outweighs the public-health gains.
Operators of pubs and theaters were among those warning that they can't make money under conditions imposed in tier 2, where alcohol can be served only with meals and entertainment venues are restricted to half capacity.
"There has got to be a real danger that if these restrictions aren't lifted very, very soon now there will be a lot of businesses that simply won't reopen," said Conservative legislator Graham Brady.
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Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own restrictions.
The new measures will be reviewed Dec. 16 and lifted for five days over Christmas across the whole U.K. Travel restrictions will be paused and up to three households will be able to form a "Christmas bubble" for socializing.
Britain has had Europe's worst outbreak, with more than 57,000 confirmed deaths.
Elsewhere
• South Korea has recorded more than 500 new coronavirus cases for the first time in about eight months. It has been experiencing a spike since it relaxed stringent social-distancing rules last month, and this week it reimposed tough distancing guidelines in Seoul and some other areas.
• China reported nine new cases in the vast Inner Mongolia region, where authorities have closed schools, suspended flights, shuttered public venues and banned banquets and other gatherings. The cluster has been centered on Manzhouli, a city of more than 200,000 along the border with Russia. Authorities ordered testing of all residents.
Infections also have been reported in the financial hub of Shanghai and the northern port of Tianjin, although China has largely ended transmission within the country through tough containment measures, case tracing and the near-universal wearing of masks.
• India has extended its restrictions on international flights until the end of the year as cases surge in some states and its capital, New Delhi. The aviation authority said the restrictions will not apply to international cargo flights and those approved under "air bubble" pacts with some countries.
• Sri Lankan police say 1,123 officers have tested positive and 2,800 have been quarantined in a surge in the capital and its suburbs. Health authorities have linked the infections to a cluster of cases centered at the country's main fish market near Colombo.
• Hong Kong reported its third-straight day of more then 80 new infections, a day after its leader declared a goal of "zero infections." Many of the cases have been linked to outbreaks in dance studios, with Hong Kong ordering those who have visited the venues to undergo mandatory testing.
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• Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said the next three weeks will be critical in stopping a further upsurge in infections that experts warn is putting medical systems on the verge of collapse.
• Vaccinations in Africa might not start until the second quarter of next year, the continent's top public-health official said, adding that it will be "extremely dangerous" if more developed parts of the world vaccinate themselves and then restrict travel to people with proof of vaccination.
The director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, John Nkengasong, told reporters that "I have seen how Africa is neglected when drugs are available" in the past. And he warned that "it's clear the second wave is here on the continent" of 1.3 billion people.
Information for this article was contributed by Jill Lawless, Cara Anna and staff members of The Associated Press.
