Trafford ‘will be RELEASED from tough North West lockdown rules’ amid fears Number 10 could hit Birmingham with stricter measures to control Covid-19 outbreak
- Everyone in Greater Manchester was banned from meeting other households
- Local health chief claimed Trafford will be exempt from rules as of next week
- Matt Hancock chaired a meeting yesterday to discuss further lockdown action
- It comes amid fears Birmingham could be the next place to face tighter rules
Trafford will be released from tough North West lockdown measures, it was claimed today.
Everyone living in Greater Manchester was banned from meeting other households in the comfort of their own home or garden under a desperate attempt to tackle rising rates of Covid-19.
But a local health chief today confirmed that Trafford, home to 236,000 people, will be exempt from the rules as of next week.
Number 10 has yet to confirm the move but ministers are set to announce an update to local lockdown rules later this afternoon. Health Secretary Matt Hancock chaired a ‘Gold Command’ meeting yesterday to discuss further action in badly-hit areas.
Millions of people in the North West and the Midlands are currently affected by rules designed to control the spread of coronavirus.
It comes amid fears Birmingham could be the next place to face tighter lockdown rules, after the government added it to the official watchlist last week because of a spike in cases. Local health bosses warned residents of the city that ‘what we do in the next seven days will decide if we go into lockdown or not’.
Officials in the Midlands city, home to 1.1million people, were this week given extra powers to shut down bars and restaurants that don’t make themselves Covid-safe, and will also be able to close parks and cancel weddings.
Number 10 has yet to confirm the move but ministers are set to announce an update to local lockdown rules later this afternoon. Health Secretary Matt Hancock chaired a ‘Gold Command’ meeting yesterday to discuss further action in badly-hit areas
The Manchester Evening News claimed Trafford council leader Andrew Western has confirmed that the Greater Manchester borough will be released from lockdown. Pictured, Altrincham’s George Street – Altrincham is a town in the borough of Trafford
The Manchester Evening News claimed Trafford council leader Andrew Western has confirmed that the Greater Manchester borough will be released from lockdown.
In a furious Twitter rant, Mr Western accused Number 10 of not explaining why they were removing Trafford from the lockdown. He said it was ‘disgraceful’ that no-one had ‘bothered to contact me at all’.
He said: ‘I lead a council with a population of 230,000 people but [the] government couldn’t be bothered to pick up the phone to tell me we were being overruled, let alone explain why.’
Trafford Council asked ministers to extend the rules for another fortnight ‘in the interests of public safety’.
It feared a spike in cases with the return of schools next week and the upcoming Bank Holiday weekend, calling it a ‘delicate time to ease restrictions’.
And the council warned the infection rate has increased slightly over the past few days, with it now having 21.1 cases for every 100,000 people. For comparison, the national average is 11.7.
But the most up-to-date Public Health England data released last Friday claimed the borough’s infection rate was 27.1. Bolton and Stockport were the only two parts of Greater Manchester to have smaller outbreaks.
In a statement published on Facebook, the council also warned cases have been diagnosed in ‘every one of our 21 electoral wards’ over the past fortnight. And it fears cases could spillover from the neighbouring City of Manchester, which it shares a border with.