Covid fear over G7 summit in the West

RANK and file police officers leader John Apter has warned this summer’s G7 summit in Cornwall could turn out to be a Covid-19 “superspreader event”.

Mr Apter, the national chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said thousands of unvaccinated police officers will descend on Carbis Bay, St Ives, from June 11 to 13.

US President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Prime Minister Boris Johnson are due to attend the summit.

But Mr Apter, who has previously campaigned for frontline officers to be prioritised for the Covid vaccine, admitted that he feared a spike in coronavirus cases when officers are in close proximity with locals in the small town.

He told iNews: “I fear G7 could become a superspreader event. Thousands of officers in this small place working closely together to help protect world leaders is creating the ideal conditions for Covid-19 to spread among them.

“It is for exactly this sort of reason why I have been calling for the Government to put officers on the priority list for vaccinations. We may regret not doing that. We are going to have thousands of officers in a small town in Cornwall in June, which is another thing taking resources away from forces across England and Wales.

“We don’t have a secret stash of extra officers hidden in a cupboard for high security events like this. They have to come from many forces. And that’s going to leave some areas even more stretched just as people start getting out into the sunshine and enjoying pubs again.”

Mr Apter last week said he “felt betrayed by the government” with “fewer than 20%” of police officers being offered the jab. It has emerged that a school in St Ives will be closed during the summit for security reasons.

James Butterworth, the head of school near Tregenna Castle Hotel, where some of the world leaders are due to be staying, confirmed that a risk assessment was carried out and the school would close over protest and disruption fears.

Mr Butterworth said a number of “significant safety concerns” were found, including increased security concerns and the

“serious risk of disruption” of transport in the area. The secondary school will close to all students and staff on June 10-14.

He said the decision had been taken based on the risks, including “the scale and importance of the summit; the unpredictable nature of potential protests and the scale at which these have happened in previous years.”