Targeted interventions fail over Leicester as city shut amid spike
Action to slow the spread of coronavirus in Leicester over the past 11 days failed to work and tougher measures were needed, the UK Health Secretary has declared.
Matt Hancock said a range of targeted interventions over the past week or so, including working with factories that saw a spike in cases, had not managed to stem the outbreak.
His comments 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 yesterday: “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, non-essential 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 per cent 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.
The authority 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 UK government and Public Health England (PHE) in sharing case and testing data for the city.
He said: “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.
“We’ve got that data and we’re still trying to work through the mountain of stuff that’s now come through and try to map it and to see where in the community the virus is still active and where it might be spreading.”
He said some colleagues “have had to spend quite a lot of time persuading” contact tracers on the ground to stay in Leicester “as some of them were on occasions seeking to decamp to go and measure elsewhere”.
Yesterday’s press conference heard that number-crunching so far, including data from around 800 people in hospital with Covid-19 infection, had shown hotspots in parts of the city.
Sir Peter said: “There are no parts of the city where there are alarming concentrations, but it is true that there are higher proportions going into hospital on the east and north east side of the city.”
He said the hospital data had shown who was most affected, adding: “Men have been quite heavily affected particularly in late middle age, elderly people have been hit particularly hard, and BAME [black, Asian and minority ethnic] communities in general have had somewhat higher rates of admission to hospital than the white community.”
Overall, he urged people to “stick together” and stay at home to control the spread of the virus.
Earlier, Mr Hancock did not rule out forcing people to stop travelling outside of Leicester, but said he hoped locals would heed the new advice.
“On travel, we are recommending against travel unless it is essential, but we are not putting that in place in law at this stage,” he said.
“Of course we will if we have to.”
A statement from Leicestershire Police said it was a “dynamic situation” and it would “provide proportionate policing under the relevant legislation”.
The force said: “Our approach has always been clear that we will use the four Es – engage, explain, encourage and enforce where necessary.”
Britain’s most senior police officer Dame Cressida Dick has meanwhile urged the public to be calm when pubs reopen in much of England on Saturday, as hospitals were told to prepare for an influx of cases on the night.