TRAVEL BAN ENFORCED
NUMBERS of confirmed coronavirus cases in Halton continued to rise this week with the rate appearing to accelerate over the weekend.
When the last edition of the Weekly News was released last Thursday, eight residents had been diagnosed with coronavirus (Covid-19) in the borough according to Public Health England, the first case having been identified just over a week earlier on Tuesday, March 17.
It had more than doubled to 19 by Monday afternoon - the most recent data available at time of writing on Tuesday
this week as the pandemic continued to grip the world.
There have also been three confirmed deaths at Warrington And Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust since March 19, and the same number at St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
Meanwhile, lockdown rules were passed into law at 1pm last Thursday, March 26, sparking debate over their interpretation.
The laws require people to only leave their homes when essential.
The examples listed include buying necessities, exercise, for medical assistance, to provide care or assistance, to donate blood, for work or voluntary or charitable services where it cannot be done at home, to attend a close relative’s funeral, to fulfil a legal obligation, to access critical public services such as childcare or education, social services, services provided by the Department Of Work And Pensions, victim services, maintaining childcare arrangements between separated parents, religious leaders or ministers to attend a place of worship, to move house, to avoid injury or illness or escape risk of harm.
Criticisms levelled at the introduction of lockdown have focused on two aspects: first that the Government’s order for residents to take no more than one session of exercise a day does not appear in the legislation, and second: the list of permitted activities includes ‘examples’ meaning there could be more unlisted legitimate reasons to leave home.
Meanwhile, police have turned away dog walkers travelling in cars from parks such as Wigg Island, and vehicle checkpoints have been set up on the Mersey Gateway bridge to check drivers are complying with the essential travel rule
Members of the public have been urged to stay at home where possible.
Dr Subramaniam Ramakrishnan, gastroenterologist at Warrington And Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, posted a video online, in which he said: “In the NHS we are facing the biggest challenge of our lifetime.
“We are working really hard to still provide care to those who need it.
“But we need your help to stop the spread of the virus.
“”Please follow the Department Of Health and the Government advice and stay at home unless absolutely necessary.
“Help us to help you. “Stay home, save lives.” Chief Constable Darren Martland, of Cheshire police, issued a similar request.
He said: “British policing is founded on respect and engagement with the public - we resolve issues daily by talking to people and reasoning with them and that will continue.
“We will continue to police by consent – officers will be engaging with the local community, talking from a safe distance, explaining the new measures and what they mean and encouraging people to do the right thing and abide by them of their own accord.
“Officers will apply their discretion and will ask questions to establish individual circumstances and will instruct people to go home if they do not have a good reason to be outdoors.
“However, where necessary and appropriate, we will enforce the measures if people are not listening and putting others at risk, as the public would expect us to do.
“The pace of change in relation to the coronavirus outbreak remains extremely challenging for us all and we know that this is a really disruptive time.
“But in these tough moments we need to make sure we all pull together.”