Time to get ‘back to normality’
SHOPPERS IN AREA WITH LOWEST COVID RATE IN NOTTS ‘FEEL SAFE’ AHEAD OF MAY 17
SHOPPERS living in the Nottinghamshire district with the lowest overall Covid infection rate have spoken of their plans after lockdown eases further next week.
Rules will relax from Monday to allow people to meet indoors in groups of six, with pubs, bars and restaurants also reopening the inside of their premises.
Other activities, like cinemas, indoor play centres and theatres, will also welcome customers again for the first time this year as the next stage of the ‘irreversible’ roadmap kicks in.
However, it comes alongside a backdrop of increased infections from the new Indian variant, with cases detected in parts of Nottingham city centre.
But one area in Nottinghamshire which has seen its rates plummet over the past month is in Ashfield, where its current infection rate has fallen to single figures.
The district recorded just 11 cases in the seven days to May 8, the most recentlyavailable data, giving it a rate of just 8.6 per 100,000 residents.
This is the lowest of all areas in the county and is decreasing, while some Nottinghamshire districts are currently seeing a lowlevel rise in week-on-week figures.
And shoppers in the district’s biggest town, Sutton, have expressed their relief and excitement as more restrictions are set to be lifted. Dawn West, 51, was out shopping in the town centre and said she has felt “safe” in Sutton since the economy reopened on April 12.
She wants to see life getting “back to normal”. “It’s definitely nice knowing the rates have gone down so low,” she said.
“I’ve been pleasantly surprised with how nice and safe Sutton has felt since everything reopened last month. Monday can’t come quick enough, it’s about time life started getting back to normality, as it was before lockdown. We can’t go on like it for much longer, it’s not good for anyone’s mental health.”
Sutton Central and Leamington, the Government area which covers the town centre for Covid figures, was once the highest area in the county for infection rates. At the peak of the January wave, the area had rates of above 1,100 cases per 100,000 people. However, they have since become ‘suppressed.’
And Robert Scott, 35, a father-of-two, believes falling rates and everything reopening poses a positive outlook for the town.
He said: “We’re heading in the right direction, it’s good to see that opening the shops and pubs hasn’t caused more cases.
“I don’t think Monday’s changes will have much effect on cases either as it didn’t last time, it doesn’t feel unsafe here.
“One of the first things I’ll be doing is sitting down for a pint in the pub. It’s been nice in the beer gardens but far too cold.
“It’s really exciting knowing how much more we can do from next week, I’ll probably take the kids to the cinema too.”
We’re heading in the right direction, it’s good to see opening the shops and pubs hasn’t caused more cases.
Robert Scott