Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce details of what and how new guidelines about coronavirus will be implemented when the current period of lockdown ends on Wednesday, 2nd December.

Before the second national lockdown was imposed, Congleton - as part of Cheshire East - had been placed in tier two.

On the resumption of this system it is expected the government will grade areas once again, introducing changes in the levels of restrictions imposed in each tier.

In the seven days to 17 November, the infection rate in Cheshire East was just below 200 per 100,000 residents, which was slightly above the national case rate average.

Mr Johnson will brief the nation this afternoon (Monday, 23rd November) and it may not be until Thursday that Congleton knows which tier it is in as further evaluations are undertaken.

Some of the things that are anticipated:

- Gyms and non-essential shops will to be allowed to reopen when England's lockdown ends.

- While parts of the tier system may be tougher, the 10pm curfew will be relaxed.

- It also seems that outdoor grassroots sport is to be allowed to resume.

- Mr Johnson is also expected to announce that mass testing will be introduced in all tier three areas. Rapid testing with military support, of the type we have seen in Liverpool, will be a feature of the stricter system.

- From next month, testing will also be phased in for care home visitors in England, with every care home resident allowed to have two visitors tested twice a week. This means that they will hopefully be able to hug relatives by the end of the year, the government has said.

- The government has warned that more areas are set to be placed into the higher tiers after lockdown.

The PM had planned to announce arrangements for the Christmas period today, but this has been delayed until at least Tuesday to allow the Scottish and Welsh cabinets to agree the plans.

This comes after the government announced that all four nations had backed plans to allow some household mixing "for a small number of days" over Christmas.

It has been reported that one option discussed this weekend was that three households could be allowed to meet for up to five days.

Congleton Nub News will keep you updated and informed as the situation develops.