Which are the 36 areas of the UK at risk of facing a localised lockdown?

While the govenment first announced that the UK was going in to full lockdown on 23rd March, restrictions have been slowly easing in the past few weeks.

However, it appears that the path out of lockdown won’t be straightforward, with the news that Leicester has been placed in to a local lockdown, as a result of a rise in coronavirus cases in the area over the last few weeks.

The area has had 2,987 confirmed coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic in March – but 866 of these cases are believed to have occurred in the past two weeks alone.

As a result, schools and non-essential shops are closing in Leicester this week, and pubs and restaurants will not reopen there on 4th July, as in the rest of the UK.

But, Leicester is not the only part of the UK to have seen a spike in Covid-19 cases recently.

Windsor / Credit: Getty Images

Certain areas across the country have, according to Public Health England, seen an increase in cases of coronavirus, suggesting that they may well face a local lockdown too, in the future.

As of Monday 29th June, the government’s Public Health England website states that there have been 311,965 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK, with 815 confirmed positive on the Monday. So while the numbers are decreasing, the virus is still prevalent.

MORE: When can grandparents see grandchildren again – and help with childcare?

New cases have been rising in 36 of the 151 upper-tier local authorities in England, as the lockdown has eased. But while these areas have reported an increase, in many cases it is only a very small increase. However, in some, the rise in cases is larger.

Which cities, towns, counties and boroughs in the UK might face a local lockdown?

• Barking and Dagenham
• Brent
• Derbyshire
• Doncaster
• Ealing
• Enfield
• Gateshead
• Gloucestershire
• Hammersmith and Fulham
• Haringey
• Harrow
• Havering
• Hounslow
• Isle of Wight
• Kensington and Chelsea
• Leicester (already in local lockdown)
• Medway
• Milton Keynes
• Plymouth
• Portsmouth
• Redbridge
• Redcar and Cleveland
• Richmond upon Thames
• Sandwell
• Slough
• Suffolk
• Sunderland
• Tower Hamlets
• Wakefield
• Walsall
• Wandsworth
• Westminster
• Wigan
• Wiltshire
• Windsor and Maidenhead
• York

Public Health England data states that Havering and Wiltshire have seen the biggest week-on-week increase in infections.

It has also been revealed that as of this past Saturday, there were 1,303 cases in Derbyshire. The number is a rise of 31 in a day.

Derby / Credit: Getty Images

However, many areas on the above list have seen much smaller increases. In Berkshire for example, where Windsor and Slough are located, the BBC reports that cases have increased by just one today, since Sunday. Gloucestershire has seen only three new cases in the last week.

It is important to note that the government deemed Leicester to have had a significant rise in cases prior to the new lockdown, so not all the other above areas will necessarily face the same reinstated restrictions.

Matt Hancock, Health Secretary, said that the seven-day infection rate in Leicester was 135 cases per 100,000, which is three times that of the city with the next highest cases.

10% of all positive cases across England have also been located in Leicester, and admissions to hospital in Leicester are between 6 and 10 per day, rather than around 1 a day at other trusts.

What does the local lockdown look like in Leicester – and what might it look like for other areas?

Non-essential shops have been ordered to close in Leicester from today, and many schools will close from Thursday in the area as a result of the spike in cases. Pubs, restaurants, and hairdressers in the area will also not be permitted to reopen from 4th July, which is when they will open across the rest of England.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock confirmed that the local lockdown would be reviewed in two weeks time, explaining that restrictions would not be kept in place longer than necessary.

If the above areas were to go into lockdown, it is likely that they may follow a similar path, depending on the severity of the rise in cases.

Of the local lockdowns, Matt Hancock said yesterday, “These actions are also profoundly in the national interest too because it’s in everyone’s interests that we control the virus as locally as possible.

MORE: Have you had coronavirus? 9 signs that you may have already caught it

“Local action like this is an important tool in our armoury to deal with outbreaks while we get the country back on its feet.”

As such, minister have also that they will be putting in place a change to the law to enforce the idea of local lockdowns – suggeting that the one in Leicester will not be the last. Matt Hancock said, “We will be bringing forward a legal change very shortly in the next couple of days.

“Some of the measures that we’ve unfortunately had to take in Leicester will require a legal underpinning.”

It also continues to be possible that the government may impose lockdowns at much granular levels across the UK too, for example, in businesses and schools. Yesterday Matt Hancock confirmed at the House of Commons that 2 GP surgeries in Enfield, a meat processing factory in Kirklees, and factories in Anglesey and Wrexham had closed as a result of outbreaks of the virus over the last few weeks.

The post Which are the 36 areas of the UK at risk of facing a localised lockdown? appeared first on GoodtoKnow.

from GoodtoKnow https://ift.tt/3iepJSL
via IFTTT