As Norfolk prepares to enter Tier 2 next week, shoppers in Norwich city centre said they felt frustrated by the government's decision.
No mixing with other households indoors and having to have a “sufficient meal” with your pint at the pub are two of the new rules that will come into play in Norfolk as part of Tier 2 restrictions, from December 2.
Mike Read, owner of Mike, Debs and Sons fruit and veg stall on Norwich market, said he feels sorry for pub owners who are desperate to reopen.
He said: “To us it doesn’t really make that much difference.
“It’s the pubs I feel sorry because unless people are going in for a big meal, they can’t have a drink.
“Christmas time, staff parties and all that sort of thing is all about having a few beers and enjoying themselves.
“I just think they have got to get the economy going.
“I certainly wouldn't want to be in government. No matter what rule they implicate, somewhere along the line they will get wrong for it.”
Norwich shoppers react to news of tier two restrictions post
John Whitlock, 65, said it’s “nonsense” and the new rules under Tier 2 “do not make sense”.
“They seem to be making it up as they go along,” he said.
“If it is as bad as they say it is why are they still letting people into football grounds. It doesn't make a lot of sense. I think we could have been in Tier 1.”
But an A&E doctor from the James Paget Hospital in Gorleston said he feels the government are "trying to be cautious" as numbers are expected to rise over the Christmas period.
He said: “I think it was expected.
“It’s kind of difficult to keep people apart at Christmas but at the end of the day if it means the numbers are coming down and it stops people from becoming quite sick, I think it’s okay.”
One man in the city centre today said he feels “let down by his government” following the announcement.
He said: “I feel like I have been lied to by my government today. We were told we have four weeks of lockdown and we could see the light at the end of the tunnel and then they change the rules. This is a lockdown in everything but name. There is no end in sight this time.
“I am a single person, I live on my own, I work on my own. I can’t officially meet indoors with anybody.
“Who is going to want to be in a bubble with me, when they have their own families they want to be in a bubble with?
“I am not happy at all.”
Sarah Wright, 49, from Norwich, said: “Myself and my family are really frustrated.
“We understand that we need to have these restrictions but with Christmas coming up it’s going to be really tough on families. I worry about people’s mental health. I worry about my children's mental health – it's really tough.
“I’m from quite a big family and it’s quite difficult because it means we can’t have all of our children around.”
Marilyn Hollingsworth, 69, said it’s “disappointing” for Norfolk and for those who have been sticking to the rules.
She said: “Norfolk as a whole has been pretty good and I think you almost feel you are being penalised for other people.
“Most people have done what they could to abide by the rules and suddenly you think, why are we in a tier that doesn’t reflect that we are being good?”
But Chris Furby, a geophysicist, said he feels the three-tier system is a sensible way to come out of the second national lockdown.
The 27-year-old added: “I think that as long as we go on the scientific evidence, it’s okay that we are in Tier 2.
“If the evidence suggest that cases have gone down, we should go down into Tier 1.”
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