Large crowds bring "shame" to Liverpool, mayor says

Picture from the Liverpool Echo (https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/huge-crowds-gather-city-centre-19099774)

Footage of large crowds in Liverpool "shame our city", mayor says.

The pictures come just two hours before new coronavirus restrictions were going to be implemented in the city, as Merseyside becomes the only area in the UK that is in the "very high" tier of the new three-tiered system.

Videos shared on social media showed large gatherings of people dancing in Concert Square in the city centre, at around 10 pm.

Police, who were called to the incident, said that the crowds were dispersed as quickly and as safely as possible.

The city mayor, Joe Anderson, said that this display of purposefully ignoring facts of COVID-19 was the reason "why we are in Tier 3 measures".

Councillor Paul Brant, the cabinet member for public health and social care, said: "At the current rate of increase, we would expect Liverpool to surpass the peak of the first wave probably within the next seven to 10 days."

This comes as he reveals that intensive care units in the city are at their breaking point and would soon reach the lack of available beds first seen in the initial wave of the virus.