Whole towns could face ‘local lockdowns’ if they have a flare-up of coronavirus cases, Matt Hancock confirms
- The Health Secretary confirmed individual regions may be put under lockdown
- Figures show that some parts of the UK have far more cases than other regions
- The so-called ‘local lockdowns’ could affect schools, businesses or whole towns
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
‘Local lockdowns’ could be imposed on whole towns if there are regional flare-ups of coronavirus cases in England, Matt Hancock confirmed today.
The Health Secretary said the ability to tighten restrictions in individual regions will be part of the NHS test, track and trace system – which is set to expand on June 1.
This could lead to local schools, businesses or workplaces being closed in areas with high prevalence of infection, according to the government’s road map on easing lockdown restrictions.
This could lead to local schools, businesses or workplaces being closed in areas with high prevalence of infection, according to the government’s road map on easing lockdown restrictions.
Mr Hancock told the daily Downing Street press briefing: ‘I know there’s been a specific problem in terms of flare ups and in terms of the number of cases, particularly in Barrow in Furness.
Matt Hancock said at today’s Downing Street briefing that individual regions could face ‘local lockdowns’
Barrow-in-Furness (with 831 confirmed cases per 100,000) has the highest figure both for England and the whole of the UK with Mr Hancock specifically mentioning the town today
‘We will have local lockdowns in future where there are flare-ups and we have a system we are putting in place with a combination of Public Health England and the new Joint Biosecurity Centre, along with the local directors of public health who play an absolutely crucial role in the decision-making in the system, to make sure if there is a local flare-up there is a local lockdown.’
Professor John Newton, the national testing coordinator added: ‘Whatever measures we put in place have to work everywhere in the country.
‘Different areas will have their own different considerations, the Lake District is a very special place and it has a lot of visitors it has a lot of open space and its difficult to reach parts of it.
‘Other parts of the country have different challenges.’
The latest figures on confirmed cases show they are relatively high in the North East, with 495 confirmed cases per 100,000 population in Sunderland, 493 per 100,000 in Gateshead and 491 per 100,000 in South Tyneside.
In parts of South West England, the figures is as low as 105 per 100,000 (South Somerset), 96 per 100,000 (Dorset) and 95 per 100,000 (West Devon).
Barrow-in-Furness (with 831 confirmed cases per 100,000) has the highest figure both for England and the whole of the UK.
Some regions may have done more testing than others, so they will have detected more cases.