‘Lockdown will not work for Merthyr’

THE leader of Merthyr Tydfil council has said that the authority is “different” from the surrounding lockdown areas of Caerphilly and Rhondda Cynon Taf and that a “geographical lockdown” would not work in the same way for his authority.

Kevin O’Neill said he was confident that cases would continue to rise but that a local lockdown was not the right way to tackle it in Merthyr.

He told BBC Radio Wales yesterday: “Things are emerging day by day and we must go by the intelligence that comes in daily.

“We are very grateful for our own testing centre at the town centre for Merthyr residents. We are tracking those figures and we are expecting a rise, but my point is that Merthyr is different to Caerphilly and to Rhondda Cynon Taf.

“We need measures that are bespoke for Merthyr Tydfil. We certainly don’t want, what I call, the ultimate geographical lockdown, but there may be a need to tighten up on the conditions.

“The starting point should always be social distancing, hygiene and masks but I do think people have got complacent. We are still in the middle of a pandemic and that needs to be very clear.”

The council leader said that he was in support of pub curfews and wearing masks in shops, but raised concerns about stopping families meeting up at home.

He added: “The number will go up. We haven’t got that community transfer that other people have got. There have been issues with people going on holiday and noisy parties, but that has flattened down. This is going to be dealt with people’s attitudes and behaviours.

“I fully support closing pubs at 11pm and wearing masks in shops, but some of the measures about keeping people and families at home I am not so supportive of. That is not where the issue is. We should be addressing our conditions where the rise of infection is, not a broad blanket that doesn’t suit Merthyr Tydfil.

“The issue is more around attitudes. People have forgotten we are in the middle of a pandemic,” he said.

“The vast majority of people in Merthyr Tydfil have complied with all these regulations. There is a very, very small minority so it is really unfair to punish everybody, and I don’t think you will get the desired effect with draconian measures.”