[ad_1]
Tighter restrictions on coronavirus are being imposed in four new areas, but a mayor says they are “harmful” and will not accept them.
Health Secretary Matt hancock has urged residents in the Liverpool Region City, Warrington, Hartlepool and Middlesbrough do not mix socially with those of other homes except in outdoor spaces such as parks and outdoor hospitality settings.
And he asked them to avoid “all but essential travel,” which means that people can still go to work and school.
The changes will go into effect at 12:01 am on Saturday.
Hancock said the measures are necessary because “in some parts of the country, the virus it is spreading rapidly “, with cases skyrocketing to 268 per 100,000 people in Liverpool.
Liverpool has seen cases rise to 268 per 100,000 people
But the second peak in COVID-19 cases is “highly localized,” he said, adding that recent actions are having a “positive impact.”
“What we are doing to respond to these dire circumstances is starting to work, so don’t stop,” he said in a Commons statement Thursday.
“Let’s all continue to do our bit and one day, on this virus, we will prevail.”
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Steve Rotheram, the mayor of the Liverpool city region metro, said the measures are a “step in the right direction” but added he was not sure “if they are enough”.
He called on the government to publish its scientific evidence and provide “substantial” financial support to companies already in trouble.
But Andy Preston, the independent mayor of Middlesbrough, called the restrictions “unacceptable.”
He told Sky News that “we went to the government with fantastic, smart and pragmatic proposals” on how to stop the spread of the coronavirus, but “they did not listen to us” and “what they have told us now is unacceptable.”
“Obviously if there is a law, I will follow it and no one should break it,” he said.
“But as it is, I do not accept these proposals; they are unnecessary, they go too far, they will damage mental health and they will kill viable jobs.”
Preston added that it was “insane and completely unnecessary” to prevent people from different households from having remote meetings in COVID-protected cafes that would be “pushed into bankruptcy”, resulting in job losses, on government orders.
“We are not weak with COVID here, we are strong with COVID, but we have to find a way to live with it, work with it and save jobs,” he said.
Labor’s shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth previously suggested that the local lockdown approach is not working.
He said that many regions subject to them are seeing cases that are increasing, not decreasing, so he asked, “Why are the moles not hit?”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman has denied ignoring local leaders.
“Our approach to addressing the second wave of the virus is to suppress the spread of the virus and keep the economy as open as possible,” he said.
At least 16 million people now live under some form of reinforced restriction, in addition to national measures in place across the UK.
