How is a ‘local lockdown’ expected to work?
Lockdown restrictions have been imposed on Leicester after a rise in coronavirus cases, including shutting nonessential shops and closing schools to most pupils.
It is part of what Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called a “whack-a-mole strategy” to crack down on flare-ups, and could be extended to other towns and cities over the next months.
What is a local lockdown and how will they work?
Health Secretary Matt Hancock last month said that regional flare-ups of the virus in England would result in “local lockdown”.
He told a Downing Street briefing there would be “local lockdowns in the future” with the Joint Biosecurity Centre having a “response function” that could address local spikes in infections, in partnership with local public health agencies.
Mr Hancock has said under local lockdowns schools, businesses or workplaces could be closed.
When will local lockdowns be introduced?
Public Health England said there was no threshold for determining when a local lockdown should be implemented. Advice will be given on a case-by-case basis and decisions taken by leaders based on this advice and the specific circumstances of the area, it added.
How will these be implemented?
Mr Hancock gave more detail on how decisions would be taken at a local level when the new measures for Leicester were announced.
He told the House of Commons that “decisions are taken through our local action committee (LAC) command structure”. Talks are then progressed through a bronze, silver and gold framework.
The Health Secretary said: “If Public Health England or the Joint Biosecurity Centre spots a problem that needs attention or the local director of public health reports a problem through the regional health protection teams, then the outbreak is assessed at the daily LAC bronze meeting.
“Issues of concern are raised to the LAC silver meeting, which is chaired by the chief medical officer. And problems requiring ministerial attention are then raised to the LAC gold meeting.”
Mr Hancock chaired a gold meeting about Leicester on Sunday, he told MPS.
What powers do councils have already?
Council and public health leaders have said local authorities have the powers needed to tackle outbreaks in schools, businesses or care homes.
But Greg Fell, a board member of the Association of Directors of Public Health , told a committee of MPS this month they did not have the power to shut down local areas or whole cities.
Any powers to lock down communities would need to be conferred to local leaders, he told the housing, communities and local government select committee.
How do you place a community into lockdown?
Keith Neal, emeritus professor of the epidemiology of infectious diseases at the University of Nottingham, said one of the biggest problems is deciding who is in the lockdown and who is not. He said that locking down at a regional level could be seen as “unfair”.