Leicester lockdown 'may be eased today' as coronavirus infections halve

Leicester’s lockdown could be eased on Tuesday after the city's coronavirus infection rate fell by half in the seven weeks since restrictions were imposed.

The East Midlands city was the first in the UK to be put under a local lockdown on June 30 to combat a spike in Covid-19 cases, with an infection rate of 135 per 100,000.

However, Health Secretary Matt Hancock could ease the restrictions today as cases have now halved to 67 in 100,000.

The Government is set to hold a review of local lockdown measures later on Tuesday.

The move comes as public health officials warn that Birmingham could soon be placed under local lockdown after seeing coronavirus cases double.

When Leicester’s restrictions were imposed in June, Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby claimed the decision was targeted at the Labour-run city and its Liberal Democrat-run neighbour Oadby and Wigson.

He said: “They have chosen to focus on the city geographical area - effectively the area of the county that votes Labour, and that's just scandalous.

“If they were going to alter the boundary, they should have gone down to the area that they now know where the virus is.

“They have left two areas in there - one that has a Liberal Democrat council, the other that has a Labour mayor.

“The fact is they have focused in a way that is clearly party political and that's not a way to deal with the virus.

“That's not a way to deal with the people who will be very angry and very frustrated that they are being punished for the way in which they voted.”

Current lockdown measures in Leicester prohibit different households from meeting in a private home or garden, or travelling outside of the restricted area to meet other people in their home or garden.

And the director of public health for Birmingham City Council said Birmingham was now on a “watch list” after the city witnessed a surge in Covid-19 infections.

Dr Justin Varney told BirminghamLive: “We could very easily be in a situation like we have seen in Leicester and Greater Manchester... looking at the national pattern, we have now overtaken Sandwell (which was on a list of most concerning locations) - it would not surprise me if Birmingham joins that list.”

At the start of August the city had an infection rate of around 12 cases per 100,000 of the population, but this number now stands at “around 30”, Dr Varney said.

Dr Varney stressed that it was important people continued to follow government guidelines following the spike in cases.

Preston went into local lockdown earlier this month after coronavirus cases almost tripled in two weeks. Residents are not permitted to mix with other households indoors or in a garden after midnight – and health chiefs have warned the restrictions could be tightened if residents do not follow the rules.

Greater Manchester and other parts of Lancashire and West Yorkshire also face the same restrictions, as infection numbers are yet to decrease.

However, last week Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham suggested that the lockdown in the north could be relaxed “in a few days”.

Mr Burnham said he was “hopeful” that restrictions could be loosened as cases are “flattening”.

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