ENGLAND is facing a fresh lockdown in DAYS as Birmingham’s Nightingale hospital was put on standby to re-open within 48 hours.
Local lockdowns have spread even further with Lancashire, West Yorkshire, Wolverhampton and Merseyside given tighter restrictions, after the UK saw the highest rise in cases since May 8.
NATIONAL LOCKDOWN LOOMS
The Government is reported to be looking at a possible “circuit breaker” nationwide lockdown as soon as next week, which could last for a fortnight.
A member of the Government’s Sage Committee Professor Andrew Hayward from UCL told Times Radio a “circuit break” lockdown is needed within days.
Professor Hayward said: “One of the measures is this idea of a circuit break, which is really instead of waiting until things have really got out of control and you end up having to have a long lockdown.
“Instead of that, trying to have a shorter period when you try and knock down transmission.
“I wouldn’t necessarily expect a circuit break to be the end of it, if you see what I mean. I think this might be something that one might need to plan for rounds of those over time.”
When asked today if the Prime Minister was considering a two-week so-called “circuit break” of new national Covid-19 restrictions, a Downing Street spokesperson told a Westminster briefing: “We have always been clear that our strategy is to keep the virus down as much as possible while protecting education and the economy.
“I would point to the words of the Health Secretary this morning where he said that we are prepared to take action if necessary.
“But we, obviously, want to avoid any extended lockdown.”
Speaking to Sky’s Kay Burley this morning, Mr Hancock delivered the strongest warning the entire country was looking at a new lockdown.
He said: “The last line of defence is full national action and I don’t want to see that but we will do whatever is necessary to keep people safe in a very difficult pandemic.”
He told Times Radio: “The last line of defence is national action.”
NIGHTINGALES PREPARE
And the Nightingale hospital in Birmingham has been put on “high alert” and been told to get ready for an influx of patients as cases have spiralled out of control.
The Government said that as of 9am on Friday, there had been a further 4,322 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK.
That’s the highest number since May 8 – when there were 4,649 fresh cases.
Overall, 385,936 cases have been confirmed.It also said a further 27 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Friday.
Dr David Rosser, the chief executive of University Hospitals Birmingham, said the site was being geared up so that it could be ready to bring seriously sick patients in within 48-72 hours.
There are currently 14 patients in intensive care.
Dr Rosser added that there was a desperate anxiety among local NHS staff, who had told him they aren’t sure “they can go through it again”.
He told a regional briefing: “Just today three new cases have come in.
“We hope we are over preparing but are nervous we are not.
“The levels of anxiety among our staff is beyond anything I have experienced in over 30 years. I have never known a clinical team so anxious in my 30 years about what is ahead.
“I have had staff saying to me they are not sure they can go through it again.”
It comes as
- Huge parts of the North East were put under strict local lockdown yesterday with 10pm curfews
- Health Secretary Matt Hancock warned a new national lockdown could be brought in
- Mr Hancock gave Brits a stern warning not to skip self isolation by getting tested
- London could be just two weeks away from lockdown with restricted opening hours for pubs and restaurants
- Hundreds of drinkers hit the town for a last boozy night out before a North East lockdown comes into force today
- Scores of coronavirus hotspots across the country have emerged in recent weeks
- Cases of the coronavirus are on the up in almost every region in England according to new data and the R rate has hit 1.4
R RATE UP
The crucial R rate – or rate of transmission of the virus – has climbed to 1.4 and cases are doubling every 7 days.
Government scientists from Sage today estimated the figure to be between a range of 1.1 and 1.4 for the whole of the UK, which has risen from between 1 and 1.2 last week.
Sage also said it is concerned coronavirus cases may currently be doubling as quickly as every seven days nationally, with transmission rates potentially even faster in some areas of the country.”
An R number between 1.1 and 1.4 means that on average every 10 people infected will infect between 11 and 14 other people.
Data published by the Office for National Statistics today shows that there has been 6,000 new daily Covid infections from September 4 to September 10.
That’s double last week it was estimated that 3,200 a day were being infected by the virus.
MORE LOCAL LOCKDOWNS
Around 12 million people in the UK now have to follow tough restrictions.
As well as the new lockdowns, other areas of Lancashire, including Blackburn with Darwen, Pendle and Preston had already been placed under local lockdown rules.
Announcing the new measures, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said today: “We are seeing cases of coronavirus rise fast in Lancashire, Merseyside, West Yorkshire, Warrington, Halton and Wolverhampton.
“Local leaders in these areas have asked for stronger restrictions to be put in place to protect local people, and we are acting decisively to support them.
“I know these restrictions will make every-day life harder for many, but I know that residents will work together and respect the rules so we can reduce rates of transmission.”
Officials acknowledged the impact these measures would have on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, this weekend.
According to the weekly surveillance study by Public Health England, cases are only falling in only three places with local lockdown measures in place.
