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The entire Merseyside region has been added to the government’s coronavirus watch list.
It was confirmed today that Liverpool, Wirral, Sefton, Knowsley and St Helens have now been placed on the covid-19 danger list due to rising infection rates across the borough.
Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson said he had been given the long-awaited news that the entire region is now on the watch list.
He said that the region’s leaders will now have to inform the government about the measures being taken to avoid a local blockade in the region.
Being on the ‘watch list’ means that the government is now closely monitoring the situation on the ground in Merseyside regarding infection rates and could soon impose further restrictions on the region if cases continue to rise.
Merseyside areas will now be classified as areas of concern and this could escalate to areas of increased support and then intervention, as we have seen in places like Leicester and more recently Bolton.
Confirming the news to ECHO today, Mayor Anderson said: “Unsurprisingly, we have had confirmation that the entire Merseyside region is now on the government’s coronavirus watch list.”
“This means that we are being monitored and we could be close to local lockdown measures.
“We will not take very serious action against any company that is not complying with coronavirus security measures, as we do everything we can to avoid further restrictions.”
Liverpool’s infection rate has skyrocketed in recent days and now stands at more than 60 cases per 100,000 after a 7-day period in which more than 300 new cases were confirmed.
Speaking at a city council cabinet meeting this morning, Liverpool’s Director of Public Health said the increase in cases in Liverpool was “very worrying”.
He said: “This is a very worrying situation for us, there has been a very rapid increase in infections.”
“These cases are increasing across the city, we are experiencing widespread community transmission of Covid-19.”
He confirmed that Liverpool’s infection rate is now around 60 cases per 100,000 people.
Wirral has been through an equally troubling period, and the peninsula has a similar infection rate.
The St Helens City Council confirmed today that its infection rate is now around 58 cases per 100,000 and warned that a lockdown could be on the way for the city.
Sue Forster, public health director for the St Helens Borough Council, said: “If our infection rate continues to grow as rapidly as it did last week, we will very quickly find ourselves facing increased restrictions on where we can go and who can see.
“We are discovering that a lot of the broadcasts are made through socializing with other people outside the homes, so before the weekend it is vital that we all ensure that we take the necessary precautions to reduce our risk of spreading Covid. -19 “.
Find local information on coronavirus cases wherever you are
Speaking about being added to the watch list, Mayor Anderson said: “Obviously this is a real setback for us because we have worked so hard on this.
“Clearly, the only way we can solve this is for people to be responsible and follow the rules extremely closely now.
“If this doesn’t happen then we could go to a local blockade and that would be huge and devastating for us as a city and as a region in general.”
“The watch list is a real hit, but it is also a real warning of what could happen next.”
Steve Rotheram, Metro Mayor for the entire region, said there is still a chance to avoid the shutdown, but action is needed now.
He said: “
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