TODAY’S THE DAY
GOVERNMENT FINALLY UNVEILING CITY LOCKDOWN MEASURES
is the day Nottingham and the county are finally expected to get answers over what restrictions will be brought in here by the Government to slow the spread of Covid-19.
The city has been teetering on the brink of ramped-up restrictions for a week after a surge in coronavirus cases caused Nottingham to have the highest infection rate in the country.
On what could prove to be a pivotal day for the city’s future, a new three-tiered system of coronavirus restrictions is expected to be outlined by Boris Johnson later today as stringent measures may cause pubs and restaurants to shut in certain areas of the country.
Mr Johnson will reveal the full details of the much-anticipated approach in a statement to the House of Commons, following criticism of the Government for not keeping MPS properly informed of changes.
Throughout the last week, lockdown measures were never announced for the city or county as politicians and residents spoke about the worrying rise.
But leaked Government documents revealed when new local restrictions are expected to be introduced across the county.
The documents state the new local measures are expected to be announced by the Government today, coming into effect from Wednesday.
This has since been confirmed by the Government’s chief whip Mark Spencer – but what restrictions will be brought in is still under wraps.
The Post was consistently met with silence from the Government when we asked what restrictions would be brought in and why there was such a delay despite clear evidence of the increasing rate each day. Labour’s shadow public health minister Alex Norris says the Government “abandoned” Nottingham, because the city “didn’t fit its timetable”.
Mr Norris, also the MP for Nottingham North, said the delay in impletoday menting a local lockdown was putting people at risk,.
The directors of public health in both the city and county urged people not to wait for the Government, but to start following stricter rules immediately – including not meeting people outside your household.
The city’s weekly rate of new cases has now topped 750 cases per 100,000 people, the highest in the country, data released on Friday showed.
At the start of September, Nottingham’s Covid case rate per 100,000 people was just 12.
Areas with tighter restrictions – including the North East, Liverpool and Leicester – all have lower rates than Nottingham.
Cases started to skyrocket again here at the end of August, according to Nottingham City Council’s weekly Covid surveillance report.
The highest number of cases recorded in a week was 1,620 – confirmed in the week starting September 28.
During that week, more than 400 students at the University of Nottingham tested positive for Covid-19.
And the dramatic surge in coronavirus case numbers came as a “shock” to public health officials in Nottingham after thousands of cases were missed off the regional total due to a technical glitch.
As of yesterday, there have been a total of 5,658 cases throughout the pandemic, according to the Government’s data.
The severity of what new Covid restrictions Nottingham will fall under has become more clear after an announcement from Liverpool.
Liverpool’s leaders have agreed the city will go into the strictest tier of England’s new lockdown system, it was announced yesterday,
Pubs, bars, gyms, casinos and bookmakers are expected to close, while restaurants, schools and universities would remain open.
The city region leaders have held a call with central government and asked for a monthly review of the situation, Sky News reports.
The move was yet to be signed off by the Prime Minister, who is due to unveil the new three-tier system of restrictions today.
Nottingham’s fate in which tier level it will fall into remains unknown for now.
But with the city recording the highest infection rate in the country, it may seem fair to suggest similar restrictions to those in Liverpool.
As of Friday, Liverpool’s rate of infection was 599.9 cases per 100,000 people.
Nottingham’s rate was way ahead of that at 760.