LOCKDOWN VOX POP

PEOPLE in Wigston town centre have given their views on today’s new lockdown for the borough and whether people will obey it.

Today sees everyone in the Oadby and Wigston borough join Leicester under the strict lockdown, with new restrictions placed on people meeting in homes and gardens.

As coronavirus numbers continue to rise, there is a realisation the disease is not going away and for people in Wigston yesterday morning, there were mixed views on what people and the government should be doing about that.

Several said they saw no end to the problem with people just ignoring all the rules and continuing to spread the virus.

Wendy Skeemer, 66, has a daughter who works as a pneumonia nurse at Glenfield Hospital and she understands how bad things can get. She said: “She was on the front line and said how bad it was. It’s scary. This will be my last day out in Wigston. I just wonder if now there’s going to be a full national lockdown again.”

Yash Raja and “Hux”, who work in a barbers in the town centre, said it was strange how invisible the pandemic seemed to be.

Hux said: “We ask pretty much all our clients whether they know anyone who has had coronavirus and so far no one does.

“But people are certainly staying indoors more – although not everyone is being careful.”

Yash said: “This is going to mean even less people around in Wigston and there are still not as many as there were before. People are scared.

“But I live in the city so I know that even with the lockdown, some people won’t obey the rules.”

A 50-year-old Wigston resident, who did not want to be named, said: “It needs to be done because of the situation up the road in Oadby.

“But I don’t think it will make a big difference because a lot of people just won’t pay attention.

“And I can’t understand why they haven’t shut pubs if it’s really so bad – after a couple of drinks there’s not much social distancing.”