Government not imposing lockdowns and Kirklees is open

Earlier today it emerged that Kirklees had been placed on a list of eight "Indian variant hotspot" locations where people were being urged against all but essential travel in and out of the area.

This was due to rising cases of Covid-19 cases in these select areas and the latest figures show that Kirkless has the fourth highest infection rate in the country, behind Bolton, Blackburn with Darwen and Bedford.

There was much confusion, with the Leader of Kirklees Council, Councillor Shabir Pandor, seemingly only finding out about the guidance through social media.

But the Kirklees' Outbreak Control Board – a cross-party group comprising the leading councillors from Kirklees Council’s five main political groups and the borough’s three MPs – has outlined this evening that, while residents and visitors must be cautious, there are no restrictions to travel in and out of the area and it is business as usual.

A joint statement from the board said: “Kirklees continues to follow the roadmap out of restrictions alongside the rest of England.

"Given our high infection rates, we are urging residents and visitors to be cautious but there are no restrictions to travel into and out of Kirklees. Pubs and restaurants remain open for business.

“Deaths and hospitalisations relating to COVID-19 remain low in Kirklees but with rising infection rates, everyone in Kirklees has a part to play in keeping themselves and their community safe.

"That’s why we’re urging people to get tested, stick to the guidance and – above all – to get vaccinated when you are eligible.

"Maintaining social distancing and meeting outdoors are sensible ways of reducing infections but residents can still travel in and out of the borough in line with national restrictions.”

The Government also announced this evening its guidance for Kirklees, and the other seven hotspot areas, is to be updated to make clear there are no local lockdowns imposed.

The Department of Health and Social Care said it would instead be issuing advice to those living in Burnley, Bedford, Blackburn with Darwen, Bolton, Kirklees, Leicester, Hounslow and North Tyneside after ministers were accused of bringing in rules on socialising and travelling “by stealth”.

It insisted lockdown measures were not being put in place.

A Government spokesperson said: “We will be updating the guidance for areas where the new Covid-19 variant is spreading to make it clearer we are not imposing local restrictions.

“Instead, we are providing advice on the additional precautions people can take to protect themselves and others in those areas where the new variant is prevalent.”

This includes urging people to meet outdoors rather than indoors, staying two metres apart from people not in the same household, and minimising travel in and out of the area.

The spokesperson said: “These are not new regulations but they are some of the ways everyone can help bring the variant under control in their local area.”

The measures first appeared on the Government website on Friday, but without an official announcement.

Local leaders in the eight areas said they were unaware of any change.

In a joint statement released earlier on Tuesday the directors of public health in the affected areas effectively said the advice could be disregarded, saying it had been confirmed there is no restriction on travel in and out of the areas.

The statement said: “Following the national coverage of recently revised guidance we have met with national officials and confirmed there are no restrictions on travel in or out of each of our areas: there are no local lockdowns.

“In areas where the new Covid variant is spreading we are all working together to boost testing and vaccination and to support self-isolation.

“There are sensible public health precautions people can take as individuals in line with the sorts of advice we have all been following throughout the pandemic.

“We will keep sharing that and working with national officials to make sure people understand what they need to think about as they go about their daily lives.”

The Government said the recommendations to the hotspot areas were first issued on May 14 – with the Prime Minister urging people to be “extra cautious” – before being “formally” published online last week.

No 10 stressed that the guidance was “not statutory” and the Government wanted to move away from “top-down edicts” as lockdown eases.

But ministers came under fire for what Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham labelled a “fairly major communications error” which had caused “huge amounts of confusion”.

The mixed messaging prompted the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Coronavirus to urge the Government to return to daily televised press briefings on the pandemic.

Dr Dan Poulter, vice-chairman of the group, said: “Over a year into the pandemic, the Government’s public health messaging needs to be clearer.

“People are being asked to piece together a jigsaw puzzle of information. What we need is much clearer information about the Government’s plans to keep the Indian variant under control, what local measures may remain in place and for how long, and whether they will be legally binding.

“It would help if the Government committed to daily press briefings as we approach June 21, as well as ensuring any local guidance is made available on the NHS Covid app.”

Caroline Lucas, the group’s second vice-chair, added: “Instead of providing clarity, the Government today has sown the seeds of yet more confusion.

“People are now being effectively told they can travel to Lisbon but not Leicester. It’s little wonder these contradictory messages have left the public more bewildered than ever.

“This does feel like local lockdowns being sneaked through under the cover of Government guidance. Urgent clarity is needed over how long this guidance will remain in force and what financial support is being offered to affected businesses in these areas.”

Earlier, Labour’s shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said many of the areas involved had “borne the brunt of the crisis these last 15 months” and felt “abandoned” by Westminster.

The Leicester South MP said: “Local lockdowns by stealth, by the back door, and the Secretary of State (Matt Hancock) doesn’t even have the courtesy to come and tell us."

Mr Ashworth urged second doses of vaccines to be rolled out at a faster rate to protect against the highly transmissible Indian mutation.

Downing Street and vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi, answering the Commons question on behalf of the Government, defended the handling of the battle against the B1617.2 variant, which vaccines being rolled out in the UK have been shown to help guard against.

Mr Zahawi told MPs that the onus was on personal responsibility and that Boris Johnson – who has signalled he does not want to return to locally tiered measures – still intends to take a national approach to lifting restrictions.

He said: “As the Prime Minister said, we want the whole country to move out of these restrictions together and we’re trusting people to be responsible and to act with caution and common sense as they have done throughout this pandemic and to make decisions about how best to protect themselves and their loved ones."

North Tyneside’s Labour mayor Norma Redfearn said: “After a day of confusion the Government have clarified there are no restrictions on travel in or out of North Tyneside.

“The position for North Tyneside is as we were. We are at the same stage of the road map as the rest of the country.

“We have seen throughout the pandemic that clear communications are vital and this confusion has caused stress and anxiety for many people in North Tyneside and the region.

“There was no consultation on this advice, which was wrong.

“With the work we are doing on enhanced testing and additional vaccinations there was never any justification for the suggestion travel should not take place in and out of the borough.”

In an earlier statement, Leicester’s director of public health said it was a “mistake” to suggest different travel restrictions applied to the East Midlands city.

Arguing that Leicester has “lower rates of the variant than other parts of the country”, Professor Ivan Browne said: “There are no local lockdowns and there is no justification for Leicester to be treated differently to the rest of the country.”

Since May 17, pub and restaurant-goers have been permitted to eat and drink inside and foreign holidays have been allowed.

Bolton Council leader David Greenhalgh told a press conference that people in the North West town should “behave sensibly” and there was no need to “be cancelling holidays”.

It follows a slight rise in weekly registrations of deaths involving Covid-19 in England and Wales, according to new figures.

However, the numbers are likely to have been affected by the early May bank holiday.

A total of 151 deaths registered in the week ending May 14 mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate, according to the Office for National Statistics, a 17% rise from 129 the previous week.