‘Action failed’ on Leicester spread
ACTION to slow the spread of coronavirus in Leicester over the last 11 days failed to work and tougher measures were needed, the Health Secretary has said.
Matt Hancock said a range of targeted interventions over the last week or so – including working with factories that saw a spike in cases - had not managed to stem the outbreak.
It came as Prime Minister Boris Johnson thanked the people of Leicester for their “forbearance” in dealing with the new coronavirus restrictions.
Mr Hancock told BBC Breakfast: “We have been monitoring it incredibly closely, we have put in extra testing units, some of the schools in Leicester were closed already.
“We also went into some of the factories and workplaces where there was an outbreak and we put in place measures.
“These sorts of much more targeted measures have worked in other outbreaks.
“So we’ve been taking this highly localised approach but unfortunately that targeted action wasn’t working in Leicester and that’s why we have taken this much broader measure.”
Under the new lockdown measures, nonessential shops will close in Leicester while schools will close to most pupils from tomorrow. People are also being told to avoid all but essential travel to, from, and within Leicester and should stay at home as much as possible.
The planned opening of restaurants, pubs, cafes, hairdressers and cinemas across England from Saturday will also not happen in Leicester.
Mr Hancock said Leicester had seen 10% of all positive cases in England over the past week, while Leicester’s seven-day infection rate was 135 cases per 100,000 - three times that of the next highest city.
There had been widespread confusion over exactly which towns and villages in Leicestershire are included in the lockdown.
Leicester City Council said it had not been given all the information it needed but that affected areas included Braunstone Town (including Fosse Park), Glenfield, Glen Parva, Leicester Forest East (east of the M1) and Thorpe Astley.
It also said Birstall, Thurmaston and all areas of Oadby and Wigston were included in the lockdown.
Leicester mayor Sir Peter Soulsby criticised the slow response from the Government and Public Health England (PHE) in sharing case and testing data for the city.
He told reporters at a press briefing: “What we said to the Government was, it’s all very well telling us that the figures are high in Leicester. What we need to know is what’s happening at the community level, what’s happening at the neighbourhood level, what’s happening at the street level, because obviously we’re a very diverse city and a very big city, and it’s only if you have that sort of information you can understand what the overall city figures might amount to.”