Concerns about complacency over Covid rules
TOP OFFICER IN RALLYING CALL AFTER NUMBER OF BREACHES
LEICESTERSHIRE’S top police officer has urged people to follow social distancing rules after a large number of people reported lockdown breaches over the weekend.
Chief Constable Simon Cole, below, said officers received a number of reports of people flouting lockdown over the weekend, including a birthday party being held in the back garden of a house in Leicester.
Officers were forced to break up the gathering and fine the organiser.
Other incidents include a boozy hot-tub party attended by six people in Melton and a gathering of drunken teenagers who were found partying in woods near Bradgate Park on Saturday night.
And police in Market Bosworth also reported receiving numerous calls about visitors flouting Covid19 restrictions at Thornton Reservoir.
With the Prime Minister laying out his “road map out of lockdown”, the national vaccination programme surging ahead and infection rates falling, the chief constable is concerned that too many people wrongly believe the battle against Covid19 is all but won. But with infection rates remaining stubbornly high in some areas, including Leicester, and new variants of the disease emerging daily, Mr Cole is worried complacency is setting in alongside lockdown fatigue. He used his weekly update on the official Leicestershire Police Twitter account to repeat his message of caution.
Turning to sport to illustrate his point, he said: “I can’t bring myself to talk about rugby this week (referring to England’s humiliation at the hands of Wales in the Six Nations), but I can talk about football.
“You might have seen Jonathan Van-Tam (Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England) talking about football teams that are 3-nil up but finish up losing 4-3. It feels a bit like we’re in that position at the moment in relation to Covid, which was the analogy that Jonathan Van-Tam was drawing.”
Mr Cole added: “We’ve all worked so hard together, so many of us have stuck to the rules for so long, let’s not let it go at the last. “Across the weekend we’ve had quite high numbers of reports of Covid breaches. We know the vast majority of you are sticking to the law and the guidance and keeping each other safe.”
He concluded with a rallying cry for solidarity.
“Please, let’s stick together for the last few weeks - because we’ve got the vaccine programme, that’s rolling out at great pace, we’ve got health colleagues working so hard, we’ve got a road map ahead of how we can get out of this really difficult situation.
“So, let’s just stick together for these last few weeks and months.”
Leicestershire Police has said its officers issued a total of 1,739 fines and have received a total of 21,508 reports of possible breaches of the lockdown rules between the start of the first lockdown in March last year and the beginning of February.
Lockdown rules begin to ease next month.
From Monday, March 8 the rules will change so you can have a picnic with your family - or one other person.
The roadmap states: “The Stay at Home requirement will remain, but people can leave home for recreation outdoors such as a coffee or picnic with their household or support bubble, or with one person outside their household.”
If you want to meet with someone in a care home, this will also be possible from the same date.
There is a bigger shift in the rules from March 29 - in time for the Easter break. The rules state: “Outdoor gatherings of either six people or two households will be allowed.”
DRIVERS are being warned there will be a five-mile diversion when the main street through a village is closed due to gas works.
Main Street in Thornton will be closed for up to five days later this month to allow Cadent to install a new gas connection.
Leicestershire County Council has said that the works will start on March 15 and could continue until