Birthday card with the words "Birthday 2021 (noun) the anniversary of the day on which a person was born, this year celebrated in your living room wearing pyjamas or some kind of lounge wear. Most likely to end in TIERS" designed by The Boy and the Bear, sold by thortful, 2021

After COVID-19 restrictions dominated most of 2020 in the United Kingdom, there was some hope that 2021 may have been different. However due to the spread of a more infectious variant of the coronavirus, England went into its’ third national lockdown on 5 January 2021. Prior to the second and third national lockdowns, the government used three-tier system in England: medium, high and very high risk areas. Each tier had its own restrictions on what people could and could not do and which businesses could remain open. Tier 4 – a ‘stay at home’ was introduced on 20 December for London and the South East.