‘Stop mixing or you face tougher lockdown rules’
ROSSENDALE’S public health director has warned residents to stop mixing with other households now or risk stricter lockdown measures within weeks.
The message was released via the Lancashire Resilience Forum, the cooperative body leading on the county’s Covid response, with the county now ‘at a critical stage’.
Rossendale was one of just two boroughs to record a dip in its infection rate in the last seven days, but still remains on red alert - and there was further scope for caution as Burnley became the country’s worst hotspot this week.
Sakthi Karunanithi, DPH for Lancashire County
Council, joined with Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen counterparts to issue the joint message asking residents to avoid all forms of mixing between households.
It is their belief that if residents do not do this - and continue to see friends and family who they don’t live with in the likes of parks, pubs and restaurants - further Covid-19 restrictions may be inevitable within just a few weeks.
It comes as the North East will, from Wednesday have a ban in place restricting all physical socialising between people from different households.
“The restrictions in place now may seem draconian but they are far from a true lockdown scenario,” Dr Karunanithi said. We’re simply asking people to avoid mixing beyond their own households and be responsible. If we all take small steps to achieve that, we will get the numbers down in time.
“We are at a critical stage in which the whole of Lancashire is in the same position and we really all need to come together and do it for our county. We should all take some comfort in knowing that we are in the same boat and we’re working towards a shared goal.
Despite it being legal to mix in hospitality venues under the ‘rule of six’, the Lancashire public is being urged to not do this.
Burnley now has the highest rate in England after 279 new cases recorded in the seven days to September 26 - the equivalent of 313.8 cases per 100,000 people. This is up sharply from 164.2 in the seven days to September 19.
Rossendale recorded 86 cases, down from 120 in the previous seven-day period based on Public Health England data published on September 29 on the Government’s coronavirus dashboard. However, its infection rate of 120.3 per 100,000 remains in the red alert zone.
Dr Karunanithi added that it was “far from the truth” that hospitals admissions were low, despite soaring infection rates in the county. As of 8am on September 28, there were 111 people in hospitals in Lancashire and South Cumbria with Covid-19.
He said: “There are rumours that people aren’t getting ill, that hospital admissions are low. From someone who has been working on this from the beginning and speaks to frontline workers in our NHS every day, this is far from the truth.
“We are starting to see hospitalisations rise and, unfortunately with this, excess deaths will be inevitable, especially as we enter the difficult winter period.”
Martin Hodgson, East Lancashire Hospitals Trust’s deputy chief executive, said: “We have a small number of patients with Covid, but Covid admissions are starting to increase. We do have robust plans in place to ensure all our patients are cared for safely, and we are monitoring the situation closely.”