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Leicester has become the first
UK city to be placed under a local lockdown by the government after a spike in
Coronavirus cases.
On Monday, health secretary Matt Hancock told MPs that 10% of all Covid-19 cases recorded in
England over the past week had come from Leicester.
To tackle the local outbreak – which saw 658 new cases recorded in the two weeks up to June 16 – lockdown restrictions are being put back in place in the city, while the rest of the country continues to reopen.
Here’s everything we know about what the second lockdown in Leicester will look like. What are the new lockdown rules for Leicester? Under the new lockdown rules, the government is advising against “all but essential” travel to and from Leicester. Residents are also being told to “stay at home as much as you can”.
All non-essential shops in Leicester – and the surrounding areas affected by the restrictions – will have to close from Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the planned easing of some restrictions in the rest of England, which mean pubs, restaurants and hairdressers will be able to open on Saturday, will not go ahead in the city.
On Monday, Hancock said that because “children have been particularly impacted by this outbreak”, schools would close for the majority of pupils, remaining open only for vulnerable students and the children on key workers.
While schools are not required to close until Thursday, a number subsequently said they would close their doors from Tuesday morning to protect students and staff. Following government announcements this evening we feel it is important to act as soon as possible to ensure the safety of our students & staff, therefore we have chosen to close all but key worker provision from tomorrow Tuesday 30th rather than waiting till Thursday.— Lionheart Trust (@Lionheart_Trust) June 29, 2020Finally, the relaxation of shielding measures due to take place on Monday in the rest of England, which mean extremely vulnerable people can meet up in groups of six and form a bubble with another household, will not happen in Leicester. Which parts of Leicester – and Leicestershire – will be under lockdown? Leicester – and some of its surrounding areas – will be placed under lockdown as officials try to get the local coronavirus outbreak under control.
Hancock told MPs on Monday that the Leicester suburbs of Oadby, Birstall and Glenfield would be included in the new restrictions.
Since then, Leicestershire County Council has released a map of the area affected by lockdown. We’re seeing extreme levels of traffic to our website, and you may struggle to access it. We’re really sorry. We’ve attached the map if you’re trying to see the lockdown area.We’re working on fixing it. pic.twitter.com/UkVNM3QawZ— Leicestershire CC (@LeicsCountyHall) June 30, 2020In a tweet, health minister Nadine Dorries said the boundaries of the lockdown would be decided by officials, including local council leaders, who will use “infection rate information”.
“This is the essence of how local outbreak management plans will work,” she added.Leicester boundary decision will be taken by local council leaders working with DPH and others on the ground who know Leicester street by street - using infection rate information provided by the centre. This is the essence of how local outbreak management plans will work.— Nadine Dorries 🇬🇧#StayAlert (@NadineDorries) June 30, 2020What about professional sport? Will that have to stop, too? The
Premier League is waiting to hear whether the localised lockdown in Leicester will force Leicester City to postpone its home games or play at a neutral venue.
Leicester are due to host Crystal Palace at the King Power Stadium on Saturday.
The league’s chief executive Richard Masters told MPs on Tuesday morning he was still waiting to hear what would happen.
The league has contingencies to “put matches elsewhere or postpone them until it is safe to do so”, he said.
Meanwhile, the Racing Post reported that Leicester Racecourse was still waiting to hear whether races could go ahead on Tuesday evening under the new rules. Is the government changing the law to enforce the lockdown? Hancock told Sky News the government would bring forward a legal change “in the next couple of days because some of the measures being put in place in Leicester “will require legal underpinning”.
“In some cases” the lockdown would be enforced by the
police, the health secretary said, while legal changes would be made so non-essential retail is no longer open.
When pressed on how people would be stopped from travelling outside the city, he said: “We’re recommending against all but essential travel both to and from and within Leicester, and as we saw during the peak, the vast majority of people will abide by these rules.
“Of course we will take further action including putting in place laws if that is necessary but I very much hope it won’t be.”Why has there been a spike in coronavirus cases in Leicester? The government is still trying to work that out.
Speaking to the
BBC on Tuesday, the health secretary said work was still being done to find out why there had been another outbreak, but said possible causes such as poverty and higher-density housing were “familiar” to him.
Presenter Dan Walker also mentioned the fact Leicester is more ethnically diverse than some areas, with some people in the community perhaps facing language barriers in accessing public health information.
Hancock said: “We are still doing the work to understand exactly why the outbreak has been so bad in Leicester.
“But lots of the reasons that you mentioned just then are familiar to me and people will find them intuitive.”Could local lockdowns happen in other parts of the UK? Yes. The prime minister said on Monday that the government has a “whack-a-mole strategy” to suppress the virus. “The crucial thing is to make sure we are ready to crackdown on local flare-ups,”
Boris Johnson told Times Radio on Monday.
“That’s why you see the steps that are being taken in Leicester.”
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