Coronavirus: Leicester ‘should be locked down to stop Covid-19 surge 

Local MP says lockdown necessary to protect lives due to the context of ”significant levels of African and Asian minority ethnic communities” and ”significant levels of poverty”

Leicester should be locked down to protect the city from coronavirus after another 866 cases were recorded in the past two weeks, a local MP has warned.

Labour’s Claudia Webbe said the lockdown was particularly needed to protect lives as the city had “significant levels of African and Asian minority ethnic communities” and “significant levels of poverty”

The Leicester East MP told the BBC: “There are significant worries and significant problems in terms of inequalities and high levels of poverty that I’m concerned about. That is the context in which this Covid-19 is operating in. So I’m very concerned, and I really do believe that where the data allows we need to ensure that we engage in processes to protect lives, and I think we need to go into therefore more localised lockdown to protect lives and ensure that we can address this virus

“The Government hasn’t reassured us. Thus far, the messages and the communication from the Government have been unclear, and it has been difficult, and I really don’t understand what communities are meant to follow.”

Extend restrictions

Five schools in Leicester have shut since reopening on 1 June because of coronavirus outbreaks, and there have been reports of further outbreaks at a Sainsbury’s supermarket and at a large sandwich production factory.

Officials have suggested keeping the current lockdown restrictions in place in Leicester for two weeks past July 4 to control the coronavirus outbreak, according to the city mayor Sir Peter Soulsby.

Delivering a series of criticisms of the information he has received, the Labour mayor said: “Frankly it’s been intensely frustrating. It was only last Thursday that we finally got some of the data we need but we’re still not getting all of it and it was only at 1.04am that the recommendations for Leicester arrived in my inbox.

“What they’re suggesting is not a return to lockdown, it seems that what they’re suggesting is that we continue the present level of restriction for a further two weeks beyond July 4.

“I’ve looked at this report and frankly it’s obviously been cobbled together very hastily. It’s superficial and its description of Leicester is inaccurate and certainly it does not provide us with the information we need if we are to remain restricted for two weeks longer than the rest of the country.”

Ms Webbe said the Government’s lifting of lockdown restrictions on July 4 while her constituency was seeing a new spike in cases would be ”reckless”

 She said countrywide lockdown measures introduced in late March should be re-introduced in Leicester, such as asking people to stay in their homes as much as possible and the two-metre social distancing restriction.

“We’re talking about a situation where we need a lockdown, but on July 4, almost a week on, we’re talking about the easing of lockdown”, she said. “I think this is reckless when you’ve got a situation in Leicester where 25 per cent of the cases (in the city) have happened in the last two weeks.”

Lack of information

Leicester public health director Ivan Browne was also critical about the level of information given to the city to tackle the outbreak, which he said is concentrated around the younger working-age population and predominately towards the east part of the city.

He said: “I don’t think at the moment we’re seeing a single cause or a single smoking gun on this so we need really try to dig down and find out what is going on and it’s likely to be a combination of factors. Information has been challenging all the way through this.

“It has definitely been challenging and I think as director of public health we have really been pushing for some time to ask for as complete a data set as possible because that’s how we can really effectively start to challenge these things on the ground.”

Mobile testing units have been rushed into the city to combat the surge in Covid-19 cases and Health Secretary Matt Hancock will hold a conference call on Monday with local leaders to discuss next steps. As well as extending the current lockdown restrictions beyond July 4, other measures being considered are closing non-essential shops and shutting down public transport to a skeleton service.

On Sunday, Home Secretary Priti Patel, in interviews with broadcasters, appeared to confirm Leicester would be locked down. But Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s shadow health secretary and Leicester South MP, said Ms Patel had “got slightly in a muddle” about a possible lockdown.

He said he had spoken to Mr Hancock, adding: “I don’t believe a local lockdown in Leicester is about to be proposed.” The Department of Health and Social Care has said it is supporting officials in the city to manage the outbreak.

This story has been updated to clarify that the comments by Leicester East MP Claudia Webbe did not imply that population was a contributory factor to the outbreak, but rather that the demographics of the population meant they had a higher level of vulnerability to outbreaks of the virus. We apologise to Claudia Webbe for the earlier inaccuracy.

Claudia Webbe MP is the member of Parliament for Leicester East. You can follow her at www.facebook.com/claudiaforLE and twitter.com/ClaudiaWebbe