The five factors which will determine if Sheffield enters new Tier 3 from December 2

But which criteria will determine whether the new Tier 3 restrictions, under which pubs and restaurants must stay close but shops can open, will apply or if South Yorkshire will be placed in a lower tier?

Boris Johnson has said the coronavirus infection rate, the rate among over-60s and the speed at which cases are rising and falling will all be taken into account.

Coronavirus in Sheffield LIVE: All the new Tier 1, 2 and 3 lockdown rules from December 2

The Prime Minister added that the percentage of people being tested who are positive for Covid-19 and the pressure on the NHS locally would also be considered, with other factors potentially being looked at too.

“The criteria we use to decide who went into which tier would be case detection rates in all groups, case detection rates in the over-60s, the rate at which cases are rising or falling, positivity rates and pressure on the NHS,” said Mr Johnson.

“So those are some of the criteria that we will use.”

Are Covid cases rising or falling where you live? Latest infection figures for EVERY area in Sheffield

Sheffield’s latest weekly coronavirus rate for the seven days to November 19 – the latest date for which reliable figures are available – is 258.2 new cases per 100,000 population.

That’s down from 309.5 the previous week and 424.9 on October 23, the day before Sheffield was placed into the old Tier 3 lockdown.

But it’s still the 92nd highest rate out of 315 local authorities in England, with Barnsley (67th), Rotherham (80th) and Doncaster (84th) also in the top 100, though rates are falling across South Yorkshire.

Over 300 volunteers from Sheffield and South Yorkshire to be injected with Covid-19 vaccine

The latest England-wide infection rate is 240.7 and cases are now falling in most parts of the country.

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals last Friday said it was currently treating 291 patients with coronavirus, 20 of whom were in intensive care.

That total number of Covid-19 patients is similar to during the first peak, when there were more people in intensive care back, but it is down slightly from 299 at the beginning of November.

In the North East and Yorkshire, the latest R rate – which shows how quickly coronavirus is spreading – is estimated to be 1.0-1.1, which is the same as the England-wide estimate.