People in Hertfordshire are set to find out on Thursday what restrictions will be placed on the county when England comes out of lockdown.

The country will return to a three-tiered system on December 2 and there is a chance Hertfordshire could face tougher restrictions after lockdown than before.

Hertfordshire had been in tier 1 before the full lockdown was imposed, but was on the verge of moving into tier 2.

Case rates have dropped over the last week, but most districts in Hertfordshire remain higher than what they had been under the tier system in October - and all ten districts are over 100 cases per 100,000 people.

Government data shows there were 1,720 new cases in Hertfordshire in the seven days to November 19, which is down from 2,009 for the previous seven days.

There were 1,381 new cases in the county in the last seven days of October.

Boris Johnson will set out on Thursday which tiers authorities will fall into, with it being expected that more areas will be placed in a higher tier than before lockdown.

Where could Hertfordshire end up on December 2?

Fortunately, it is very unlikely that Hertfordshire will end up in tier 3, with rates much, much lower than in current coronavirus hotspots in Kent and Hull, as well as other parts of northern England and the Midlands.

The highest weekly rate in Hertfordshire is currently in Broxbourne, where an infection rate of 208.7 was recorded in the seven days to November 20.

And nine of the 10 areas across the county, including Watford, St Albans, Hertsmere, and Three Rivers saw drops in cases rates in this time period - only Dacorum saw a small rise from 126 cases to 129.9.

Today's case data published on the Government dashboard collectively recorded the fewest number of cases across Hertfordshire for weeks, with some districts recording cases in single figures.

This looks to be a step in the right direction and suggests that lockdown may have brought levels of coronavirus down across the county - but a prolonged period of data is needed to see the true impact.

Public health officials in Hertfordshire have given no indication about which tier they expect the county to fall into but director of public health Jim McManus suggested last week there was a “window of opportunity still” to avoid tougher restrictions.

But ultimately, the government will decide - Whitehall sources have told the Daily Mail that “very few areas” would be placed in tier 1 restrictions when lockdown ends.

Borehamwood Times:

Boris Johnson outlining the new tier system in a press conference Photo: PA media

Despite good news from today's dashboard, Hertfordshire still has a higher rate than other parts of the country.

Taking the latest data and whispers from Downing Street into account, the most likely outcome is Hertfordshire will start post-lockdown in tier 2 - which would see a ban on households mixing in any indoor settings.

But The Mail also reports that the tier system will be reviewed by the government every two weeks, to establish whether local authorities need to have stricter or more relaxed measures.