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The coronavirus restrictions in Essex could be changing soon.
Current measures include the ‘rule of six’, restaurant and bar curfews, and facial coverage rules.
But all that could be about to change after the Essex County Council revealed that it will apply to Secretary of Health Matt Hancock to place the county under Tier Two measures.
Tendring has the highest rate of coronavirus cases in the county with more than 80 cases per 100,000 residents.
While Braintree and Rochford currently have the lowest infection rate in the county.
Essex is currently at Level One and therefore at the ‘mid’ level of the system, like most areas in England.
However, after today’s full council meeting, the county could soon be pushed to the “high” level.
Exceeding level two, which means there could be tighter restrictions on the horizon.
Use the widget below to find out how many coronavirus cases have been recorded in your area.
Here is everything we know about Essex’s position in the three-level traffic light system:
Pushing Essex to level two
Cllr David Finch announced this morning that the council has asked Health Secretary Matt Hancock to place Essex on a “high-level” Covid alert.
At this morning’s council meeting, he said: “At Essex we believe in taking action and in this case it is action that we believe will protect the lives of Essex residents, our NHS and most importantly our local economy as well. “.
“Based on a detailed analysis of the growing number of cases, we believe it is only a matter of maybe a week or two before Essex enters two tiers of the new government traffic light restrictions announced yesterday.
“It is also our conclusion based on the data that moving to two-tier restrictions earlier would reduce the impact on the number of cases, the NHS and the local economy by flattening the curve of cases and allowing them to reduce more quickly as we move towards the end of the year.
“Today we announce that we have approached the Secretary of State, Matt Hancock MP, to request permission to introduce two-tier restrictions before Essex reaches the national threshold for this action.
“This would mean that Essex would become a pioneer in proactive prevention based on the view that we are one of the most capable authorities in the country to deal with this pandemic.”
Loughton opposition councilman Chris Pond agreed that it was the best course of action.
He replied, “I think it’s the right action, as regrettable as it is, I think we are doing the right thing.
The two Essex areas opposing passage to ‘high’ alert
Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock are unit councils in charge of their own health systems.
Unitary councils such as Thurrock and Southend-on-Sea function completely independently of the Essex County Council and could make their own decisions in terms of requesting a more severe lockdown.
Ultimately, the Essex County Council’s decision to request the central government to undergo a Level Two lockdown does not affect Southend-on-Sea or Thurrock.
The rest of the county is run locally by district councils, but the county council is in charge of public health.
However, this does not mean that these areas would never enter a Level Two or higher lockdown; that final decision is made by the Secretary of Health.
What the Health Department says
EssexLive reached out to the Department of Health and Social Care about the shift to a level two of Covid-19 restrictions.
A spokesperson for the department said: “Decisions are made in close consultation with local leaders and public health experts, informed by the latest evidence from JBC and NHS Test and Trace, PHE and the Medical Director for England.
“We discuss the measures with local public health directors and local authorities, constantly review the evidence, and will take swift action when necessary.”
For all the details announced at this morning’s meeting, click here.
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