Quarter of UK need not have had lockdown
RESEARCHERS SAY LOWER-RISK AREAS COULD HAVE STAYED OPEN
“Our drivers report all failures to comply with government policy to their depot management team.”
Nigel Eggleton, managing director of First Leicester, said: ”Although our drivers cannot enforce the wearing of face coverings as their focus must always remain on driving people safely to their destination, they are reminding and advising people about the new rule.
“Overall, the feedback we are receiving from our drivers is the majority of people travelling on our bus services are complying.”
The requirement to wear a face covering does not apply to under-11s and those with a reasonable excuse.
This includes where they cannot put on, wear, or remove a face covering without severe distress because of any physical or mental illness or impairment, or disability.
Those travelling with, or providing assistance to, another person who relies on lip-reading are also exempt.
Masks do not have to be worn to eat or drink “where it is reasonably necessary to do so”, to take medication or when told to remove the mask by “a constable or other relevant person”.
LOCKDOWN could have been avoided in at least a quarter of the country, De Montfort University experts say.
Experts gathered data about the country’s 632 constituencies and found 25 per cent were at “lower risk” and could have kept their economies going despite the coronavirus outbreak elsewhere.
The researchers used computer modelling to get their results, based on factors including vulnerability, population density, commuter mobility, school mobility, people per house and economic output.
They concluded that by keeping towns and cities isolated from areas with infection, rather than shutting them down completely, the government could have combated the virus without damaging so much of the economy.
Dr Raymond Moodley, an artificial intelligence researcher at the university, said: “While much has been done on monitoring the effectiveness of the lockdown and predicting infection and mortality rates from Covid-19, very little is publicly available on the modelling of alternative measures.
“By cordoning off lower-risk constituencies, we could have allowed more than 25 per cent of the population to move more freely within their respective
MAP: Showing relative risk
We could have allowed more than 25 per cent of the population to move more freely within their regions
Dr Raymond Moodley
regions, which would also have driven almost a quarter of Britain’s economic output.”
While urban areas like Leicester are at greater risk generally, the work found that some big towns and cities were safe enough from the virus to have been allowed to stay open. Some of the areas identified as suitable for alternative measures to lockdown include Huntingdon, Bath, Brighton, Halifax, Lincoln, Milton Keynes and Inverness. Areas where lockdown was vital, the research suggests, include Greater London and major cities such as Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle and Leeds.
Professor Francisco Chiclana said: “This pandemic containment strategy combines selective lockdowns and protective cordons to prevent diseases from spreading rapidly while allowing local communities to conduct business as usual.”