Let us do things our way, say local leaders

THEY BELIEVE BOROUGH-LEVEL RESTRICTIONS AREN’T WORKING

GREATER Manchester’s leaders now want Bolton to remain in lockdown after a sharp spike in Covid cases over the weekend - but in the longer term want the current measures affecting much of the conurbation replaced by ramped-up localised testing.

At a meeting leaders agreed borough-by-borough social mixing restrictions no longer make sense, instead concluding more resource from government is needed so that targeted, ‘hyper-local’ testing and contact tracing can be carried out.

One senior figure said resource that had been promised from the national track and trace system had yet to materialise.

But in the meantime they want both Bolton and Trafford to remain under restrictions until an ‘exit strategy’ and a replacement approach can be rolled out.

The meeting came amid a bizarre situation that means Bolton was due to come out of measures from midnight last night, despite having the second-highest infection rate in the country.

It was poised to come out just as it tipped into the ‘red’ category for infection levels, the threshold for which is 50 cases per 100,000.

Numbers have risen sharply since the government announced on Friday that Bolton was to be released from restrictions - a move that was supported at the time by both the council and Greater Manchester.

Over the weekend, infection rates then rose both there and in

Trafford, which was also due to come out from midnight despite opposition from the local authority. Leaders have now agreed that both boroughs should stay in for the time-being. However, more broadly, they believe the current system of individual borough-level restrictions is not working.

They believe it is unsustainable and not easily understandable for the public in a region where people regularly cross boundaries for work and leisure, including via the public transport network. Instead they want extra resource to provide targeted, door-to-door track and tracing, which is thought to have driven a big fall in Oldham’s infection rates in recent weeks.

A spokesman for the Greater Manchester Combined Authority said: “It is clear that more targeted, hyper-local door-to-door action is more effective than broad geographical restrictions. That is why the mayor and leaders want to agree an exit strategy with the government for the current restrictions.

“However, before that it is place, it is accepted that the restrictions will need to continue in eight boroughs in the short term. As soon as practically and safely possible, we want to see the whole of Greater Manchester coming back into line with the rest of country but with funding to provide enhanced local interventions where they are needed.”

The M.E.N. asked the Department of Health and Social Care whether the government’s position may change, but no response has so far been received.