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Coronavirus: New Covid tier system comes into force in England

England has returned to a tiered system of coronavirus restrictions after its second national lockdown ended.

The government said the move would help "safeguard the gains made during the past month".

More than 55 million people are in the strictest two tiers and cannot mix indoors with those in other households.

As the tougher new system came into force, the UK became the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.

The first 800,000 doses will be available in the UK from next week, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said.

England's new three-tiered system was backed by MPs in a Commons vote just hours before it came into effect, despite 55 Tories voting against PM Boris Johnson's plan.

There were queues outside stores early on Wednesday, as non-essential shops and other businesses - including personal care services such as hairdressers and beauty salons - can now reopen for the first time in four weeks.

Some retailers are extending their trading hours to try to recoup the loss in sales over the lockdown.

It comes after a period which has seen the collapse of Topshop owner Arcadia group and the failure of department store chain Debenhams to secure a buyer - putting a total of 25,000 jobs at risk.

A stock clearance sale began at Debenhams at 07:00 GMT following the end of the lockdown.

British Retail Consortium chief executive Helen Dickinson said businesses were looking forward to welcoming back customers, with billions lost in sales during the lockdown, adding "every purchase we make is a retailer helped, a job protected and a local community supported".

Pubs and restaurants are now allowed to reopen in tier one and two areas, although in tier two alcohol can only be served with a "substantial meal".

The government has also announced that people living in care homes in England will be able to have visits from family and friends by Christmas, if the visitors test negative for coronavirus.

And later on Wednesday about 10,000 fans will be allowed into six games in the English Football League for the first time, other than a few pilot games, since March.

England's new coronavirus restrictions are tougher than the previous tier system that was in place before the lockdown was introduced on 5 November.

Under the system every area of the country is in one of three tiers - medium (one), high (two) and very high (three) - with the vast majority of the population in the higher two tiers.

In tier two, people are not allowed to mix with anyone outside their household or support bubble indoors, although they can socialise in groups of up to six outdoors.

And in tier three, people must also not mix with anyone outside their household or support bubble indoors, or at most outdoor venues.

Opening the debate in the Commons on Tuesday, Mr Johnson urged MPs to support his proposals - offering an additional £40m for some pubs in tiers two and three.

He said he appreciated the "feeling of injustice" in some areas and pledged to "look in granular detail" at the "human geography" of the virus when the tiers are reviewed.

Closing the debate for the government, an emotional Matt Hancock described how he had been personally affected by the virus, after his step-grandfather died from Covid-19.

"We can afford to let up a little, we just can't afford to let up a lot," he told MPs.

Conservative rebel Mark Harper, who chairs the lockdown-sceptic Covid Recovery Group of Tory MPs, said the government "must find a way to... end this devastating cycle of repeated restrictions, and start living in a sustainable way until an effective and safe vaccine is successfully rolled out across the population".

Task 1. Read the headline of the article. Comment on it.

Task 2. Read the article and be ready to give a translation of it. Pay attention to the sentences where some words and phrases are given in bold. Write out those words and phrases and transcribe them.

Task 3. Find the English equivalents of the following words and phrases. Make your own sentences using the new vocabulary.

1)  сохранить прибыль

2) многоуровневая система

3) быть доступным

4) Министр Здравоохранения

5) поддержали члены парламента

6) Тори проголосовали против

7) возместить убытки от продаж

8) розничные торговцы

9) полная распродажа

10)  Генеральный директор Британского консорциума по розничной торговле

11) сытная еда

12) дома престарелых

13) общаться с кем-либо

14) общаться в группах по

15) порочный круг

Task 4. Make up a dialogue/story using the new vocabulary.

Task 5.Devide the text of the article into logical parts. Give short titles to each logical part. Find a key sentence to each logical part. Paraphrase them.

Task 6. Make up all types of questions to discuss the article with your group mates.

 Task 7. Be ready to discuss in the classroom with your group mates:

-         what was the author’s intention to tell the general public about

-         what is the main idea/ problem raised.

Task 8. Watch the video “The health secretary tells MPs his step-grandfather died of Covid-19 in November”. Give a script of the video and say how is the video related to the information given in the article. Go through the link to watch the video https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-55153899.

Task 9. Write a rendering of the article. Mind the rules of a rendering writing. (second lesson)

Task 10. Learn the new vocabulary from the article be ready to write the dictation-translation. (second lesson)