City is facing ‘double whammy of high case rates, low jab rates’
MP ASKS MINISTER AND FAILS TO GET ANSWERS ABOUT US BEING LEFT BEHIND WHEN LOCKDOWN LIFTS
HEATH secretary Matt Hancock failed to answer questions about whether Leicester could remain in a localised lockdown when he updated MPs on coronavirus yesterday afternoon.
Shadow health secretary and Leicester South MP Jon Ashworth asked the secretary of state if areas such as Leicester, where rates are still high, could be “left behind” when national restrictions begin to be lifted.
Mr Hancock did not comment on local lockdowns but instead offered reassurances that the lifting of lockdown rules would be based on “data, not dates”.
Mr Ashworth also asked his opposite member if extra resources would be made available to areas like the city facing the “double whammy of relatively high infection rates and relatively low vaccination rates”.
Responding to the secretary of state’s Covid update, Mr Ashworth said: “Nowhere is Covid safe until everywhere is Covid safe and none of us want to yo-yo in and out of lockdown.
“Overall trends are coming down, but infections in some areas remain stubbornly high.
“The national average is 100 cases per 100,000. In Leicester, my city it is one of the highest in the country – the infection rate is 222 per 100,000.”
Mr Ashworth listed other areas, including Oadby and Wigston, where rates are again increasing before asking: “What steps will be taken to ensure areas aren’t left behind when the national lockdown restrictions begin to lift or will they remain in localised lockdowns? Will local authorities be given more resources to do extra door-todoor testing and retrospective tracing and will workplaces in those areas be inspected by HSE to ensure they are Covid secure? Will people be given decent sick pay and isolation support?”
He went on: “Many areas, like Leicester, are facing a double whammy of relatively high infection rates and relatively low vaccination rates, what further action will now be taken to drive up vaccination rates among hesitant communities? Will he fund faith groups, community groups, public health teams to develop targeted tailored vaccination campaigns?”
Mr Hancock replied: “He is quite right to ask about increasing the uptake of vaccinations, we are working with faith groups and local directors of public health and others. Councils have a very important role to play along with pharmacists and GPs in increasing vaccination uptake.
“But it has been higher, very high and higher than I expected. I am very thrilled about that.”
Mr Hancock was in the House of Commons to tell MPs of the success of the vaccine roll-out and also update them on the six confirmed cases of the Manaus variant in the UK.