Here is the graph which shows how close Northamptonshire is to Tier Three lockdown status

Health chiefs have shared data showing how close Northamptonshire was to being placed in Tier Three lockdown restrictions this week.

The Government announced on Thursday (November 27) what tiered restrictions each county in England will be under when the national lockdown is lifted on December 2.

Northamptonshire was placed in Tier Two, meaning that the 'Rule of Six' applies outdoors, residents should not mix indoors, and a "substantial meal" must be eaten with drinks at a pub.

Now, a new data set has shown how Northamptonshire compares to other counties in England and indicates how close its residents are to entering the highest restrictions under Tier Three.

The scatter graph, which was shared at a Covid-19 press conference today by director of Public Health Northamptonshire Lucy Wightman, shows how the county is towards the upper range of areas that were designated Tier Two.

While it is not the only system that was used to decide tiers, the data breaks down on average where some counties in different tiers rank next to one another based on the severity of their infection rate.

In layman terms, the further to the top right a county places, the more likely they are to be placed in Tier Three.

Lucy Wightman said: "You can see Northamptonshire is towards the upper-third of Tier Two.

"We're not at immediate risk of going into Tier Three. This only plots some variables and there is a much broader context that must be taken into consideration.

"But we're clearly a little way away from being in Tier One.

"I am confident the residents of Northamptonshire can step up to the challenge and they can see the benefits and the actions they need to take to get us back down to Tier One."

The graph compares each county's weekly cases per 100,000 population on November 12 and November 19 to gauge how severely the infection rate has grown or shrunk.

County tiers will be reviewed every 14 days.