GHOST TOWN
Deserted shuttered streets, shops and police road blocks... Leicester enters first day of local lockdown
AS THE rest of England toasted the easing of restrictions, a massive police and public health operation yesterday swung into action in the locked down city of Leicester.
Officers in masks patrolled the largely deserted streets, while residents lamented the continuing wait to go to pubs, hair salons and restaurants because of the Covid-19 spike.
Concerns that residents would be tempted to slip away to nearby Derby or Nottingham led to checkpoints being set up on the roads. Plainclothed officers also patrolled the city to ensure social distancing as the UK’s first local lockdown officially came into force.
In fact, more police were on duty this weekend for ‘Operation Integrate’ than were drafted in for the city’s New Year’s Eve celebrations.
Passengers at Leicester railway station were quizzed as the message was driven home that here lockdown would be in place for at least another fortnight.
According to some residents, such strict enforcement has been far from the case in parts of Leicester over the past three months.
Attention for the surge in cases has focused on up to 1,000 textile factories and overcrowded housing concentrated in North Evington to the east of the city centre. ‘There are certain areas where social distancing hasn’t been observed much at all,’ said retired railway manager John Chapman, who lives a short distance inside the lockdown zone.
The 71-year-old grandfather would have been able to hug his grandchildren or go for a meal or drink yesterday – but has been prevented by the recent surge in cases.
Across England, thousands of pubs welcomed back regulars but even those outside Leicester’s boundaries are cautious about opening because of people travelling from within the lockdown zone.
Vee Cayless, 77, a widow whose garden hedge marks the citycounty boundary – and hence the lockdown line – wasn’t heading to the pub, but she was pleased to see her grandchildren again.
‘Apart from that, it’s not going to make a huge difference to me,’ she said. ‘What I’d like to do is get back to my tai chi classes, but that’s inside the city and won’t be reopening for a while.’ Some stores have tried to open early – and been targeted by officials. City council enforcement officers have shut down two non-essential shops in St Saviour’s Road in the heart of North Evington, while a further 17 businesses are being ‘reviewed’ to see if they have breached guidelines.
Dr Charanpreet Johal, director of a community radio station, claimed he raised concerns with police that some businesses were trading in breach of the rules.
He told the Leicester Mercury: ‘We have had numerous calls, between 30 and 40 a day, from people who are quite worried about the non-essential businesses which haven’t closed down. The people are coming into work at 5am or 6am. We are being called by people worried about coming into work but they are being blackmailed by their bosses.
‘We have had women calling up and crying on the phone, saying they don’t know what to do.’
Leicestershire Chief Constable Simon Cole said: ‘We have a huge policing presence in that area and people can talk to those officers.’
According to figures from July 2, Leicester has an infection rate of 141 per 100,000 – three times higher than the next highest local area.
As well as police and Public Health England medical officials, a team of behavioural scientists have been deployed to provide advice if social distancing is not adhered to.
The Mayor of Leicester, Sir Peter Soulsby, yesterday claimed that his officials were still not being given sufficient information about infection rates by PHE.
A blame game between local and central government has been raging for the past fortnight, with Sir Peter complaining that figures for both positive and negative test results, along with ethnicity and workplace, broken down by postcode, were not coming through.
‘We’ve asked repeatedly but have just been told we’re being given all we need,’ he said. ‘But North Evington
is a large area and comprises several different communities, and we need to be able to pinpoint where the clusters of infections are if we’re to crack this.’
A PHE report into the spike revealed it could be partly due to the growth in the availability of testing.
However, Professor Paul Hunter, of the University of East Anglia, said increased testing would not be entirely responsible.
Sir Peter said that ethnicity was not a compulsory question at testing centres, adding that while North Evington was a predominately black, Asian and minority ethnic area, the breakdown of patients admitted to hospital reflected a roughly 50-50 split of white and BAME.
A spokesman for PHE said: ‘From the outset, PHE has regularly and consistently shared all of the data that we hold and that has been made available to us.’
Back in the city, the streets surrounding the imposing King Power Stadium were eerily quiet as Leicester City took on Crystal Palace behind closed doors. Indeed, only a few officials in hi-vis jackets gave any indication that a Premier League match was happening.
The home side secured a win but, for now at least, fans were unable to join the rest of England and raise a glass in a pub.
‘Social distancing hasn’t been observed much’