‘No clear pathway out’ if city goes into local lockdown as cases rise

A RISE in coronavirus cases in Coventry which has seen rates almost triple in the space of a month has been described as “alarming” by the council’s leader.

Cllr Geoge Duggins said the country is “clearly in a second wave” of Covid-19 and has called on residents to keep on top of efforts to reduce risk of localised action.

In the seven days to October 2 cases per 100,000 stood at 92.59 (344 cases), almost three times the rate of 33.65 (125 cases) in the first seven days of September.

It is now edging towards neighbouring Solihull’s rate of 102 per 100,000. Along with Birmingham and Sandwell, Solihull’s rise in cases has seen them moved to ‘areas of intervention’ with bans on household mixing.

It comes as Coventry City Council sent out messages on social media urging residents to “redouble their efforts before the situation gets worse”.

“We know a lot of Coventry residents are following the Covid guidelines properly,” the council said.

“However, we need everyone else to take this situation seriously and do what is right, otherwise we could see more restrictions for our city.”

Cllr Duggins said a recent glitch in missing coronavirus cases reported over the weekend - some 16,000 effectively lost in the system - has played a part in Coventry’s rise in cases.

He said: “At the end of the last week we thought things were beginning to stabilise a little bit, but then there were those 15,000 tests which we lost and the number did not go through the system.

“Our numbers like everybody else’s have gone up and at the moment it is on 92. The figure that is going up is alarming but it is also down to lost data which in itself is alarming.”

Cllr Duggins said it is important residents help avoid any localised restrictions as he feared there is “no clear pathway out”.

Fellow West Midland authority Wolverhampton became an area of national intervention at the end of September due to a sustained raise in coronavirus cases, while East Midland neighbour Leicester - which was placed into a local lockdown on June 30 - is yet to fully come out of theirs.

Cllr Duggins added: “I do not want to see any further restrictions in Coventry at this time as there is no clear pathway out as it stands. This is the experience with so many others.

“Colleagues in Wolverhampton went into a localised restriction and their numbers have come down but they have found there is no way out.

“As a community we need to ensure we all do our best to ensure we can start seeing these figures reducing. That is the constant message along with mask wearing, handwashing and social distancing.

“Our figures have been relatively low but we are clearly in a second wave and hospital admissions are increasing.

“People need to keep up the good work as when it comes to restrictions it does mean people won’t be able to see people and visit people after their immediate bubble or household.

“For me personally I see my dad on a Sunday but with restrictions I cannot do that and it would be back to what we had in June. Nobody wants to go to that if we can avoid it.”