Council ‘will not hesitate to take further steps’

Kent County Council’s director of public health, Andrew ScottClark, said that there is “no comparison to be made” between cases in the county and Leicester but that the council “will not hesitate to take further steps” if necessary.

He said: “We work closely with Public Health England (PHE) to monitor the figures across Kent - the seven day rolling average for Ashford and Folkestone continues to decline from the peak seen in April/May, so this PHE report does not mean there is a current need for any local lockdowns.

“While the figure for cumulative confirmed cases will always appear high for these areas, there is no comparison to be made between the rates of new cases currently occurring in Ashford and Folkestone, and areas such as Leicester.

“We have seen a number of infections in care settings and these are being effectively managed but we have not seen any evidence of any widespread community transmission of Covid-19 and there are currently no plans to introduce any lockdowns specifically in these areas.

“Should, however, the need arise, we will not hesitate to take further steps should it be necessary. Ashford and Folkestone have seen higher rates than other areas and it is a combination of higher testing rates earlier in the pandemic, a large NHS Trust and many care homes in the area plus the London commuter effect

“We have known Ashford has experienced high numbers for a while and as a result we have deployed mobile testing sites to this area to increase the amount of people who are tested to allow us to better understand how and why this is happening.

“As a result we are finding more positive results because we know that some people can be infected with Covid-19 but not exhibit symptoms.”

Andrew Scott-Clark