Covid: New ‘fundamentally flawed’ restraint system, says Burnham

The new system of local coronavirus measures has “fundamental flaws”, the Mayor of Greater Manchester has said.

A three-tier system for England was announced on Monday, with the Liverpool region placed at the highest tier, with much stricter restrictions.

Andy Burnham told the BBC that he “resisted” Greater Manchester being placed in the same category because it would cause “some damage” to the economy.

Each level of restrictions is imposed after discussions with local leaders.

All areas of England are classified as medium, high or very high alert according to the system.

Meanwhile, Essex, which is currently in the middle tier, has become the first place to request additional restrictions.

The county said it should go to high alert status to avoid “further escalation” to a very high level later on, which would damage the economy.

And in London, Mayor Sadiq Khan has said that it is inevitable that the capital will pass a “trigger point” in the coming days that should move the city from medium to high level.

The measure would mean that nearly nine million people would be prohibited from mixing with other homes indoors, including in pubs and restaurants.

‘Fragile economies’

Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Emma Barnett that there was “no adequate financial support package” to help areas get to the top.

He added: “And they are trying to pressure people into the third tier, even though it will do some damage to those economies, often quite fragile economies in the north.

“That is why level three, as it is currently built, is fundamentally flawed and why we have resisted being pushed into it.”

Manchester does not have Covid hotspots to the same degree as Liverpool, which is the only area that ranks at the highest level, and the number of people admitted to the hospital is less, Burnham said.

And he said England’s chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, had acknowledged that he was not confident that basic level three measures “would be sufficient.”

Mr Burnham said he would prefer a short national “circuit breaker” lockout to “reset things,” including putting the test and trace system under local control. It was revealed on Monday that government scientific advisers had called for such a brief shutdown last month.

Recommendations on which areas are placed at particular Covid alert levels are made in a series of daily and weekly meetings involving NHS Test and Trace, Public Health England, the Medical Director, the Department of Health and Social Care, and ministers. , together with the Joint Center for Biosafety.

The final decision is only made after consulting with local authorities and local leaders.

At level three, or the very high alert level, these conversations also decide what additional measures are considered necessary to control the infection rate.

But Liverpool Mayor Steve Rotherham said it was “totally false” that the new measures were agreed locally and that the government had “dictated them” to us.

What are the restrictions?

Most places are below the lowest level, the medium alert level, with current restrictions continuing, including the hospitality curfew at 10pm and the six o’clock rule.

Areas that are already under additional local restrictions are automatically in the high alert level, which means that the bans on indoor domestic mixing are expanded to include hospitality venues.

the very high alert level – at the very least – you see pubs and bars close if they don’t serve “big meals”, almost all domestic contacts are forbidden and travel is discouraged. The rule of six will continue to apply in public outdoor spaces, such as parks.

In the Liverpool city region, gambling shops, gyms, leisure centers and casinos are also closing as part of additional measures.

Essex is calling for its 1.4 million residents to be placed on high alert level after its director of public health warned that the increase in cases would continue to accelerate without urgent action.

Council leader David Finch said they wanted “above all” to avoid the economic damage of being at the highest level of restrictions at a later stage.

“We hope that making these painful decisions now will pay dividends later,” he said.