17.5m in local lockdown (as London teeters on brink)

MORE than a quarter of Britain is set to be living under local lockdowns after a swathe of new restrictions were imposed last night – with London also at risk.

Fresh rules are to be brought in across Leeds, the North West and South Wales. That means around 17.5million Britons will be living in areas which restrict them from meeting other households.

But that figure is likely to soar in the coming weeks after London was placed on the Government’s watchlist following a surge in hospital admissions. The capital could be subjected to lockdown restrictions early next month if cases keep rising. Assuming measures were introduced across the entire capital, the total number of people living under lockdowns would grow to 26.5million, about 40 per cent of the population.

Meanwhile two sets of data published yesterday provided further evidence that the pandemic was spreading.

The first was the results of the Office for National Statistics infection survey which showed there were around 9,600 new infections a day in England, up from 6,000 the week before.

The ONS – whose data covers the seven days up to the September 19 – said the increase was particularly marked in London, Yorkshire and Humber, the North East and the North West. Secondly, latest Government estimates put the R rate at 1.2 to 1.5, well above 1, meaning the pandemic is growing. This was up from between 1.1 and 1.4 last week and Government scientists said the virus was spreading in all areas of England.

Yesterday London mayor Sadiq Khan urged ministers to ban household visits for all the capital’s nine million residents.

He claimed problems with the testing system – run by Tory peer Dido Harding – was masking the true extent of the virus adding: ‘If you go too late, we will already be in a North East, North West, Birmingham-type situation. You’ve got to go early, particularly in the absence of testing.’ But ex-Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said: ‘Shutting down London would be an utter disaster; our economy would completely collapse.’ Last night Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced new restrictions for Leeds, Stockport, Wigan and Blackpool which ban households from mixing. They apply from midnight and are enforceable by law, with fines of up to £200.

London has been placed on the watchlist as an area of concern and extra testing units will be installed across the capital.

Officials say it is unlikely it will have any restrictions imposed next week as infection rates are still significantly behind those in the North West, North East and Birmingham. But they are concerned about the boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Havering, Hillingdon and Sutton.

Mr Hancock said: ‘We must act collectively and quickly to bring down infections.’ Separate figures from the Department of Health showed 6,874 people had tested positive, up from 6,634 the previous day. There were 34 deaths – down from 40 reported the day before – taking the total to 41,936.

‘Our economy would completely collapse’

PERHAPS the most sinister aspect so far of the Government’s latest Covid crackdown is council snoopers peering through letterboxes to ensure people comply with the draconian new rules.

It starkly illustrates the triple whammy of crippling restrictions ordered by Boris Johnson: The curfew, the tearing up of his ‘get back to work’ blueprint, and the torturous six-month duration.

Alone, each measure would inflict searing social and economic pain. Imposed together – just as Britain dusts itself down after being steam-rollered by the lockdown – they are a recipe for ruin.

Of course, the Prime Minister is determined to halt an upswing in coronavirus cases.

He dreads a tidal wave of hospitalisations and deaths crashing onto the country (even though most people are infinitely less likely to perish from the virus than from riding a bike).

But by clamping down on millions who will simply shrug off the illness, he is torpedoing the nascent recovery.

Business are locking their doors for the final time. Countless pubs and restaurants will never take another order. The dole queue could hit three million by spring.

Look, too, at the public finances, and gasp. Britain’s borrowing binge is reaching wartime levels. Our great-grandchildren will still be repaying the gigantic debt.

Rishi Sunak must fertilise this financial wasteland. Replacing the eye-wateringly expensive furlough scheme with a targeted bailout was a sensible first step.

For it ends taxpayer support for ‘zombie’ businesses and jobs, and is a wake-up call to the public that the Government cannot endlessly shake a magic money tree.

Now the Chancellor must confront the gargantuan task of re-igniting the economy to haul us out of this quagmire.

Meanwhile, today we report fresh evidence of lockdown’s catastrophic collateral damage. Officials predict that 75,000 nonCovid patients will end up dying because they didn’t receive proper medical treatment – dwarfing deaths from the virus.

And that is before the fatal effects of poverty, depression, educational damage and personal debt are calculated.

Consequently, the Mail urges Mr Johnson to think long and hard over whether the cure is worse than the disease before introducing tougher curbs.

If further restraints are to be placed on our liberties, instead of No 10 issuing decrees at scientists’ bidding, Parliament should be permitted to vote on them. After all, he is a prime minister not a dictator.

There have already been far too many tragic casualties of Covid. Democracy should not be another one.