Tier 3 and 4 are the "only measures" that can bring coronavirus cases down across the county, Wiltshire's public health director has said.

Wiltshire and Swindon are currently facing Tier 2 restrictions but in the past week, confirmed cases of Covid-19 have started to rise again.

It is not known how much this will have been caused by the new variant.

However, it could mean harsher rules will come in in the near future to get numbers back to where they were.

Sharp increase

In the past week, 498 new cases were reported in the Wiltshire Council area, according to the latest data from Public Health England.

This means the infection rate has gone up from 72.4 to 99.6 per 100,000 in the space of one week.

Kate Blackburn, the council's public health director, said figures have increased "pretty sharply" although not "exponentially".

She is urging members of the public to "think carefully" about who they mix with on Christmas Day.

Since the pandemic began, a total of 428 coronavirus deaths have been recorded in Wiltshire, 17 more than the previous week.

Two of these were at Salisbury District Hospital where the number of positive patients has risen significantly in the past week.

Tougher rules 'might be brought in'

Tier 2 rules, which allow people from different households to meet outdoors in groups of up to six, can help maintain the case rate to the same level.

However, harsher restrictions such as those in place in Tier 3 and Tier 4 areas are needed for cases to decline, Mrs Blackburn has said.

Asked whether Tier 3 rules may be coming soon, Mrs Blackburn replied: "From a public health perspective, Tier 2, if everybody sticks to the guidance, will help maintain your case rate at the same level.

"That hasn't happened. We've seen cases going up so I know that Tier 3 and possibly Tier 4 are the only measures to help bring those numbers back down again.

"As we see cases rise pretty much everywhere in the country, I think at some point greater restrictions will probably be brought in nationally."

You can read about what Tier 3 and Tier 4 rules mean here.