Kentish Express Ashford & District
LOCAL LOCKDOWN FEARS DISMISSED
Town is named as Covid-19 hotspot
Fears Ashford could be placed in local lockdown have been played down after it was identified as one of 20 ‘areas of concern’ for further coronavirus outbreaks.
Leicester remains top of the list with 5.7% of individuals who underwent a test found to have the virus and 19.1 daily incidences per 100,000 people.
Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, followed with a 5% rate.
Bradford and Blackburn with Darwen in Lancashire were the next highest.
Ashford and Folkestone were in seventh and eighth place respectively.
Ashford recorded 3.9 cases per 100,000 people, based on a 14-day rolling average, while Folkestone recorded a figure of 3.6 cases per 100,000.
The government list was circulated to local health chiefs last week and leaked to The Guardian newspaper at the weekend.
The data could be used to enforce more local lockdowns like the one implemented in Leicester, where schools were closed and pubs and restaurants ordered to shut.
A public health director said that deprivation was thought to be behind the high levels in some areas.
They told The Guardian: “Some are going to be in the list for the whole period of the pandemic.
“The drivers are structural and demographic, so the pattern of spread will reflect the inequalities that already existed. Some of the most strapped-for-cash councils are going to be dealing with some of the worst outbreaks.”
But Ashford MP Damian Green dismissed fears over a local lockdown.
“It wasn’t a leaked document,” he said.
“I read it in the Daily Mail and frankly it was ridiculous coverage because you just look at the figures.
“Over the past two weeks in Ashford, I think there were four cases per 100,000, as compared to Leicester which was about 900.
“The current figures are low and coming down so I think the idea that Ashford was on the verge of lockdown was just a scare story.”
Mr Green says the Covid-19 testing centre which was set up in the Victoria Road car park last month – and could stay open for six months – is an important addition to the town.
He added: “The other point to make is people need to continue obeying the guidelines.
“It’s not gone away completely so we all need to continue to behave sensibly to avoid any prospect of lockdown.”