Online voices

STORY:

Parts of the North

East with lower Covid infection rates should not be allowed to break away from the rest of the region and exit Tier 3 measures, a North East public health chief believes.

Chris Parry: These areas don’t have security gates. Take one out and put it in tier 2 and it’ll be swamped by people from other tier using their pubs and restaurants.

Jo Warnaby: I completely agree Chris. It would be a nightmare to police and could potentially put the rate back up in an area that had worked really hard to bring it down.

Chris Parry: Jo Warnaby, exactly. Too many think restrictions don’t apply to them and look for loopholes.

Dean Marshall: Chris Parry, Seems straight forward enough doesn’t it! We’d have people from outside the city coming in and bringing high rates back. How are police then meant to sort it?

Chris Parry: Dean Marshall, Too much like common sense. Which seems to be a bit thin on the ground at the minute.

Andrew Evans: But the tests used to detect covid are inaccurate. Therefore, the data being used to justify lockdown and the vaccine roll-out can't be relied on.

Dave Knightley: Are any of the nightingale hospitals open because routine operations are being cancelled because of to many covid19 patient's. So if not what was the point of building them?

Richard Pallin:

Contingency planning, so that if they were needed they would be ready. If they weren't set up many people would probably criticise the government for not doing anything. As I've said many times whatever decisions are made it will be wrong for some! In a 'no win' position!

Dave Knightley: All

I’m asking Richard is are any of them open because I thought that's why they where built ,to take pressure of the main hospitals.

Richard Pallin: They haven't been needed yet, because of the actions taken to avoid being overrun. The hospitals will not open them, unless needed for COVID patients, until they absolutely can't cope in the existing hospitals.