What time is the lockdown tier announcement today?

The coronavirus tier system for England will be announced by the health secretary today at 11.30am in the House of Commons, as the country looks toward an exit from lockdown next week.

Matt Hancock will give a statement explaining which level each local authority will be allocated to in the three-tier system when England leaves lockdown on 2 December.

The new tier system, which is structured around stricter restrictions than the ones imposed in October, was revealed earlier this week, with the prime minister saying the previous tiered measures “weren’t quite enough”.

Most of England’s local authorities are likely to enter tiers 2 and 3, with the BBC’s political editor Laura Kuenssberg saying she understood only a "handful" of areas would be placed in the lowest band of restrictions.

In expectation of backlash from local leaders in areas placed in the highest levels, Boris Johnson has said the allocations will be reviewed on 16 December.

The government said the factors used to judge the correct level of restrictions for each local authority comes down to indicators including case detection rates across all age groups, case detection rates in people over 60 and positivity test rates. The rate at which cases are increasing or decreasing is also considered, as is pressure on the NHS.

The tier announcement follows the decisions to ease restrictions for five days for Christmas on 23 December, with three households allowed to meet indoors for the period across the UK.

Mr Johnson is also expected to hold a press conference on the tier system later this afternoon.

In order to find out which alert level you are in, you can use the postcode search available on the government website.

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