Revealed: the 20 areas most in danger of a new lockdown
A SWATHE of towns across northern England is being closely monitored for coronavirus outbreaks amid mounting concern that they may soon be forced back into lockdown.
Kirklees and Bradford in West Yorkshire have both been targeted for ‘enhanced support’ in a bid to control the scale of infection.
Meanwhile, Blackburn, Rochdale, Oldham, Rotherham and Barnsley have all been deemed towns of ‘concern’.
Each is named in a top 20 ‘hit list’ of local authority areas drawn up by Government officials desperate for towns and cities to escape the fate of Leicester, which was the first place to have a so-called local lockdown imposed.
Two of the top 20 – Ashford and Folkestone, are in Kent – but all the others are in the North and the Midlands.
Like Leicester, many have large South Asian populations and are seen as areas of deprivation. Both factors – large ethnic populations and poverty – are officially recognised as being linked to greater spread of the virus.
Public health experts know the virus is harder to stop in such areas, where large families often live together in multi-generational households.
That means if one person contracts the virus, it quickly spreads to others. In addition, lowerpaid workers are more frequently employed in jobs where they come into close contact with others, such as in factories.
In Kirklees, 164 tested positive at a meat factory in June, while a bed factory in Batley, near Kirklees, was closed earlier this month after eight workers were discovered as having the virus.
The Army is being deployed to set up more mobile testing centres across the towns, to make it easier for residents to get swabbed.
The towns are listed in a ranking table of ‘local authorities of interest’ based on testing data between June 21 and July 4.
Marked ‘ official sensitive’, the list was obtained by The Observer newspaper.
The highest level of alert is ‘intervention’ – meaning lockdown – the current situation in Leicester.
Below that, Kirklees, Bradford and Sheffield have been targeted for ‘enhanced support’. Another six towns are classed as being of ‘concern’.
A public health director familiar with the situation said the demographics of the areas meant they could be fighting local outbreaks for months to come.
They added: ‘Some of the most strapped-for-cash councils are going to be dealing with some of the worst outbreaks.’
Council bosses fear Leicester-style total lockdowns, which have resulted in all but essential shops being closed, pubs and restaurants prevented from opening, and children sent home from school.
Yesterday, the East Midlands town was put on a ‘red-zone’ list by the Belgian government, which warned its citizens not to travel there.
It means anyone arriving in Belgium who has recently visited Leicester will have to quarantine for two weeks.
Signs are due to be erected around Brussels Airport telling arriving passengers to inform the authorities if they have been in Leicester during the lockdown.