‘LOCKDOWN MEASURES MIGHT NOT BE ENOUGH’
MONTHS OF LOCKDOWN SEEMS TO SUGGEST STRONGER CURBS MIGHT BE NEEDED
THE new government coronavirus rules might not be strict enough, according to Leicester’s director of public health.
Ivan Browne was asked whether he believes the government has done enough to curb the spread of the virus with the new tier system measures.
Speaking on BBC Radio Leicester, Professor Browne replied: “I’m not sure they have and the reason I say that is because, probably more than any other place in the country, Leicester knows what it’s like to have more draconian restrictions placed on us and if you look at our figures at the moment, we’re (still) around the national average.”
The change will bring the city out of local lockdown today and into line with some other areas that also currently have restrictions.
The new rules will mean that people can meet family and friends outdoors, while observing the rule of six.
Indoor meet-ups remain banned, whatever the setting, unless it is with someone in your support bubble.
A record of SAGE recommendations from September, released on Monday night, revealed that the top scientists advising the government had pushed for much stricter curbs than the new three-tier system offers.
One of the suggestions made three weeks ago was a “circuit breaker” - a short, sharp lockdown, while they also said they had “low confidence” in how effective the 10pm pub and restaurant curfew might be, adding that it’s “likely to have a marginal impact”.
Mr Browne said: “I certainly sympathise with the points some are making about having something short and meaningful, rather than dragging this out for an inordinate amount of time.”
He added: “What we have learned is that we can’t ease up for a moment – over the summer there was talk of releases and ‘Independence Day’, in August there was Eat Out To Help Out, there were lots of things that probably sent a message that suggested we could be a little more relaxed, and that has, in some ways, created problems.
“Going into the winter period, what we know about the virus is that the colder temperatures seem to offer more opportunities for the virus and all of these things coming together has contributed to the spike that we saw at the start of September.”
Mr Browne did, however, welcome the change that means families and friends can now spend time together outdoors, while observing the rule of six, but warned we must continue to follow all the public health messages about washing hands, wearing face coverings in public and keeping socially distanced.
LEICESTER South MP Jonathan Ashworth, above, criticised the government and accused it of holding back the SAGE report until after the new measures had been announced.
He said: “The revelations in this paper are alarming.
“The fact that the Prime Minister chose to publish it an hour after his press conference is yet more evidence that he is treating the British people with contempt.”
The shadow health secretary added: “Labour warned earlier that the restrictions announced by the Prime Minister may not be sufficient.
“The government now needs to urgently explain why it ignored its own scientists and what it will be doing to get control of the virus.”