Manchester’s infection rate surges since lockdown
THE Covid-19 infection rate in Manchester has risen more than fifteenfold since a local lockdown started, figures show, as Andy Burnham, its mayor, warned the Government was in danger of “losing” the public in the North.
Statistics show Manchester’s rate at 335.9 cases per 100,000 – one of the worst in the country, having surpassed 200 per 100,000 in recent days. When restrictions were introduced across parts of the North West in July, the figure was around 20 per 100,000.
Yesterday, Mr Burnham said there was a growing “North-south divide”.
Speaking to Sophy Ridge On Sunday on Sky News, the former Labour minister said: “The Government are really in danger of losing the public in the North.
“And actually, if they carry on imposing restrictions on the North without proper support for the businesses and the employees affected in the North, we will see a winter of levelling down and the North- South divide getting bigger.”
It came as a leading scientist said lockdowns were not the best way to tackle Covid flare-ups.
Prof Devi Sridhar, the chairman of Global Public Health at the University of Edinburgh, said voluntary compliance with clear messages about avoiding crowds, wearing face coverings, and staying outside were more effective.
She told the same programme that research comparing different countries’ pandemic responses showed “suppression does not have to mean lockdown”.
Yesterday, Boris Johnson told The Andrew Marr Show on BBC One that it was “simply too early to say” whether local lockdowns were working.