Covid-19 restrictions on almost 2 million in NE
ALMOST two million people in the North East of England will be banned from socialising with other households, following a “concerning” rise in Covid-19, the Health Secretary has announced.
Matt Hancock told MPs in the Commons that new measures were needed to tackle rising infection rates in Northumberland, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Gateshead, Sunderland and County Durham.
From today, residents in these areas will be banned from socialising in homes or gardens with people outside their own households or support bubble, while food and drink venues will be restricted to table service only.
Leisure and entertainment venues must also close between 10pm and 5am every night. Residents are also being advised not to socialise with other people outside of their own households in all public venues. They should avoid nonessential travel on public transport and only take holidays with their own household or support bubble.
Anyone who attends amateur or semi-professional sporting events is also advised to stop going, the Department of Health and Social Care said.
The changes run alongside the England-wide six person limit on social gatherings.
Mr Hancock told MPs: “The battle against coronavirus is not over – and while we strain every sinew to spring free of its clutches, with winter on the horizon we must prepare, bolster our defences, and come together once again against this common foe.
“One of our vital lines of defence has been taking targeted action at a local level. We’ve seen local action work well in some parts of the country, and now we must take further action.”
The new regional restrictions come as:
■ NHS Test and Trace figures show that 33.3% of people who were tested for Covid-19 in England in the week ending September 9 and had a socalled “in-person” test received their result within 24 hours. This is down from 66.5% in the previous week.
■ A total of 18,371 new people tested positive for Covid-19 in England in the week to September 9, a rise of 75% in positive cases on the previous week.
■ YouGov’s coronavirus tracker poll showed that the proportion of Britons who approve of the way the Government has responded to the pandemic has fallen to its lowest level yet. Some 30% think the Government has handled the issue of Covid-19 well, with 63% saying it has handled it badly.
■ Dr Adam Kucharski, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who advises the Government, said the shortage of coronavirus testing capacity was affecting the ability of authorities to track the spread of the disease.
Mr Hancock told MPs that, across England, there was a “concerning rise in cases, with 3,991 new cases recorded yesterday” and “we’ve seen concerning rates of infection in parts of the North East”.
He added: “Sunderland, for example, now has an incidence rate of 103 positive cases per 100,000 population – and, in South Tyneside, Gateshead and Newcastle, the figures are all above 70.
“As a result, local authorities wrote to me earlier this week, asking for tighter restrictions and we’ve taken swift action to put them in place.”
He said the Government knew “these decisions have a real impact on families, on businesses and on local communities, and I can tell everyone affected that we do not take these decisions lightly”.
He added: “We agree with the local councils that we must follow the data and act, and the data says that we must act now so we can control the virus and keep people safe.”