FIRST LOCAL LOCKDOWN
Schools and non-essential shops shut again in Leicester after spike in cases
LEICESTER has become Britain’s first local lockdown spot after a surge of new coronavirus cases.
Schools and non-essential shops will close and pubs will not open for two more weeks.
No10 said: “We recommend people stay at home.”
PUBS, restaurants and businesses will stay shut in Leicester for another fortnight in Britain’s first local lockdown.
Non-essential shops and schools will close again as a surge in Covid-19 cases means the city will not reopen with the rest of England on Saturday.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the Commons last night: “Given the growing outbreak in Leicester, we cannot recommend that the easing of the national lockdown set to take place on July 4 happens in Leicester.”
Mr Hancock said 10% of all positive cases in the UK in the past week were in the city. He added: “While cases in most parts of the country have fallen, in Leicester they have continued to rise.”
Non-essential shops in the city will close from tomorrow and schools will close to most pupils from Thursday. Mr Hancock said: “To people in Leicester – stay at home as much as you can, and we recommend against all but essential travel.”
The rules will apply to the city and the immediate surrounding areas.
Health officials will go to affected workplaces to ensure they are Covid-compliant.
A new walk-in testing centre will be opened, while extra funding will be given to the local authorities for a promotional drive to encourage anyone with symptoms to get tested. The Mayor of Leicester, Sir Peter Soulsby, said he was told in an email from Government officials at 1am yesterday that the city would be shut for two weeks. But there was confusion as Mr Hancock waited until 9pm to make an official announcement. There CONCERNS Sir Peter were 866 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Leicester in the last two weeks, bringing the city’s total to 2,987. Many more cases are thought to be going undetected.
Sources told the Mirror that the outbreak is linked to the reopening of Leicester’s textiles industry in late April, two weeks before the Government told people to return to work. Hundreds of new cases in early June were in people in the east of the city, where hundreds of clothing factories are based.
PM Boris Johnson said yesterday: “We are concerned about Leicester. We are not out of the woods yet.”
Local leaders demanded data to justify singling the city out. Sir Peter said: “There is no reason to
pick on Leicester and to impact on our economy and our businesses.
“I’m not saying we shouldn’t take special action, just that I would need to be convinced that there was something unique about our city before we agreed to an extension of the lockdown.”
He claimed cases are higher in Leicester due to more testing.
Six schools had to shut, while there were cases at two Sainsbury’s stores, and sandwich and biscuits factories. Nationally, Covid-19 infections have stopped falling for the first time in months. Scientists in the Independent SAGE group said the NHS test and trace system is not yet “fit for purpose”, and is only reaching a third of symptomatic cases. Local health officials, including Leicester’s Director of Public Health, say they cannot access its data. The Mirror understands that at least five Leicester garment factories that reopened in lockdown had to shut again due to staff outbreaks. A source said: “One of these factories had more than 20 cases. Workers have not been furloughed. When these factories closed, they had no money and so they went to other factories to find work. That is what is spreading the disease.”
Saeed Khilji, chairman of the Textile Manufacturers Association of Leicestershire, told us: “There are many cases among garment manufacturers. A number of have had to close.”
Professor Neil Ferguson, of Imperial College London, estimates that if the outbreak spreads to the wider Leicestershire region, 10,500 people will need treatment in hospital.
It comes as pupils in Anglesey, North Wales, were told they will not be returning to class like those in the rest of Wales due to a local outbreak. The North West is also reported to have high numbers of cases.