MUTANT STRAIN COULD BE HERE ALREADY ... WE CAN’T LET IT TAKE HOLD
HEALTH CHIEFS SAY IT WOULD BE ‘TERRIBLE’ IF NEW VARIANT SPREADS
PUBLIC health bosses are working on the basis that the new and more infectious strain of coronavirus is already in the city and county, writes Dan Martin.
City council public health director Professor Ivan Browne, pictured far right with his county counterpart Mike Sandys, were briefed by government scientists and told between 60 and 80 local authority areas which weren’t put into the new Tier 4 have already had one or two cases of the variant strain.
They are now working on the assumption that both Leicester and Leicestershire are among them.
“At the moment we have not seen evidence that it is here already, but we are working on the basis that it is,” said Prof Browne. “We cannot allow it to take hold, that would be terrible. This feels like a big moment and it is more important than ever that people stick to the advice to stop the transmission.”
PUBLIC health bosses are working on the basis that the new and more infectious strain of coronavirus is already in Leicester and Leicestershire.
Tier 4 measures have been introduced for one in three people in the UK after the variant strain of Covid19 caused a huge surge in cases in London, the South East and the East of England.
Officials from Leicester City Council and Leicestershire County Council were briefed by government scientists over the weekend and told that between 60 and 80 local authority areas which weren’t put into Tier 4 have already had one or two cases of the variant strain.
They are now working on the assumption that both Leicester and Leicestershire are among the areas which have already had variant cases.
City council public health director Professor Ivan Browne has also told the Mercury that he was alarmed by footage of people crowding on to trains at St Pancras Station heading north towards Leicester on Saturday as they tried to get out of the capital before Tier 4 restrictions came into force.
He said: “That was absolutely not what we wanted to see and I am worried what will happen if the new strain of the virus takes hold in the city.
“At the moment we have not seen evidence that it is here already, but we are working on the basis that it is.
“We know, unfortunately, how quickly the virus has spread in our city in the past and we cannot allow it to take hold because that would be terrible. This feels like a big moment and it is now more important than ever that people stick to the advice to stop the transmission.
“The pressure on our NHS locally is great already.
“It’s on a knifeedge.
“If you have been taking the risks seriously, and many people have, I thank you, but if maybe you haven’t, please, please start now. We can’t assume it won’t affect us and if we let it get out of control it will be very bad for our city indeed.” Leicestershire County Council’s public health director Mike Sandys told the Mercury: “The message we got from the government is that if case numbers do start to explode here, then it will not waste any time imposing stricter measures and I would back them in that.
“We were told there were 60 to 80 local authority areas outside the Tier 4 areas that have had one or two cases (of the variant strain) and we have to work on the basis that we are in that bracket.
“We are not immune to it. In London, the infection rates have gone up above 500 cases per 100,000. “That is a lot of people.
“We do not want that kind of explosion here.
“If there is good news, it is that we have not seen that explosive rise here though the rates are going up in a way I was hoping not to see.
“Ivan is right. This is the time to start really trying with the washing your hands, covering your face and keeping your space from people.
“Two metres will do it, but three is better.”
Both directors of public health stressed that while the new strain is much more infectious than the old one, it did not appear to cause more severe symptoms – though they pointed out that the more it spread the more likely it was to reach more vulnerable people.
They also said there was no sign that it comprised the vaccine being rolled out across the county and city.
The pressure on our NHS locally is great already. It’s on a knife-edge
Prof Ivan Browne