BRISTOL GOES INTO TIER 1+
‘CRITICAL MOMENT’ MAYOR TO BRING IN ENHANCED RULES TO CONTROL VIRUS ACROSS CITY
BRISTOLIANS must “go back to basics” under a new “Tier 1-plus” coronavirus regime that has been put in place to try to avoid the city being put into Tier 2 or even Tier 3.
That was the stark message from city leaders yesterday as the city’s Covid-19 cases rise rapidly and outstrip the national average.
Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees and the council’s Director of Public Health Christina Gray said the new “Tier 1-plus” approach, developed locally, included national Tier 1 measures plus three new elements:
» “targeted actions” developed locally to reduce the spread of Covid-19;
» an enhanced test and trace capability with the council stepping in to take over some parts of the national system;
Covid marshalls to encourage people and organisations to follow the rules.
Mr Rees said if the new approach does not work, the city would face the “inevitable” prospect of being put in Tier 2 - or even Tier 3 – restrictions.
He said: “This moves incredibly quickly. Any decision is a basket of considerations. It’s about hospital admissions, where it’s landing, the degree to which the government has confidence in what we have done and whether we have a degree of control.”
He added: “The rules and the guidance can be confusing. We have all wrestled with that, including the Prime Minister.”
Ms Gray said the “Tier 1-plus” approach had been discussed by local authorities in the South West and Bristol was the first one to adopt it.
Ms Gray said: “We regard ourselves as being, now, in Tier 1-plus.”
The rules and the guidance can be confusing. We have all wrestled with that, including the Prime Minister. Mayor Marvin Rees
Tailored response
Mr Rees said the actions would be driven by local data and tailored to respond to how and where the virus is spreading.
Ms Gray said on Tuesday the actions would focus on areas where people have become “a bit lax”.
Yesterday, she said the most worrying rise in infections was among adults of working age – the 30- to 60-year-old age group.
Outbreaks among the student population were easier to contain, she said.
In contrast, the “rising tide” of infections among working age adults was happening across the city and so was harder to pinpoint and harder to manage.
Household mixing was at the root of the problem and risked the virus being spread to older and more vulnerable groups, she added.
But there was no “one single intervention” that would tackle the spread in this age group, she said.
It was clear that maintaining “Covid-secure behaviours and Covid-secure environments” was effective in reducing the spread of the virus.
The hospitality sector was one of the most difficult areas to manage, she added.
‘Enhanced’ local test-and-trace
Mr Rees said the council would be taking on elements of the national test-and-trace system that had failed.
Ms Gray said the level of contact tracing in Bristol was not where it should be and the council would be undertaking more of this locally.
She said the council had received £3 million in outbreak control money from the government and will have to pay for the additional resources for more contact tracing from within that budget.
She said she wanted to thank everyone who was coming forward for testing as it not only helped people to identify when they needed to self-isolate and get treatment, but that it helped authorities understand the pattern of spread in the community.
Covid marshals
The council is employing eight Covid marshals who should be in place within a week, Ms Gray said.
She said they would be full-time, targeting specific areas of the city – along the harbour, Gloucester Road and the high streets – at the busiest times, such as the weekend and evenings, when and where they were needed most.
Mr Rees said the marshals are part of a drive to improve compliance with coronavirus rules by individuals and organisations so that the behaviour of Bristol’s residents and its environments are Covidsafe.
The marshals will focus on encouraging compliance rather than having an enforcement role, he said. But the council will have to take enforcement measures to drive behaviour change as well, he added.
Mr Rees noted that Avon and Somerset Police had handed out more than 400 Covid penalty notices since March – 37 of them since the start of October.
He asked everyone to be “gracious” towards anyone whose job it was to ask people to follow the rules.
Ms Gray said there will be a twoor three-week delay before we see the effect of the interventions.
“So we are in a very, very critical place, I can’t emphasise that enough”, she said.
Mr Rees said Bristol currently has 340.7 coronavirus cases per 100,000 people, well above the English average of 222.8 per 100,000 people.