UK govt re-imposes Leicester lockdown

The British government is reimposing an array of lockdown restrictions, including the closure of schools, in the central city of Leicester after a spike in coronavirus infections.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock told lawmakers yesterday after a series of meetings, including one chaired by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, that in addition to the school closures, shops that don’t sell essential goods, such as food and medicines, will have to shut again, two weeks after they reopened.

He said the government had to take “difficult but important decisions” for the benefit of Leicester’s population, which numbers about 350,000.

“Local action like this is an important tool in our armoury to deal with outbreaks while we get the country back on its feet,” he said.

The re-imposition of lockdown restrictions for Leicester — the biggest local tightening taken by the government — went further than had been anticipated and is likely to prove a cause for concern among the city’s highly diverse population and those who were looking to reopen their businesses this weekend.

While confirming that Leicester won’t be joining in the easing of the lockdown this weekend when pubs and restaurants are due to reopen in England, Hancock said further actions were necessary to get a grip on the local outbreak that’s seen the city account for 10 per cent of all positive cases in the country in the past week. Hospital admissions are between six and 10 a day, also higher than in other places, he added.

Hancock said non-essential retailers, such as department stores and electronic retailers, will have to close again from today, two weeks after they reopened.

In addition, he said schools will have to close from Friday as children have been particularly hit during this outbreak.

They will remain open for vulnerable children though.

He also said that travel to, from and within the city will have to be curtailed and social distancing rules will be monitored.

“The more people follow the rules, the faster we’ll get control of this virus and get Leicester back to normal,” Hancock said.

“The virus thrives on social contact and we know reducing social contact controls its spread and precise and targeted actions like these will give the virus nowhere to hide and help us defeat this invisible killer.”

The lockdown will be reviewed in two weeks.