Coronavirus: Luton and Blackburn now 'areas of intervention' due to COVID-19 spikes - Sky News

Two more English boroughs have joined Leicester in reaching the highest level on the coronavirus watchlist.

Luton, in Bedfordshire, and Blackburn and Darwen, in Lancashire, have both been designated as an "area of intervention" by Public Health England (PHE).

They are now both at the same level as Leicester and the Midlands city's neighbouring Oadby and Wigston, which were subject to the UK's first full local lockdown as part of the government's "whack-a-mole" strategy to deal with local flare-ups in COVID-19 infections.

However, a government source told Sky News not to expect Leicester-style lockdowns in Luton or Blackburn and Darwen.

Instead it is more likely that the national lifting of coronavirus restrictions - such as the reopening of gyms and leisure centres this weekend - may be delayed in these two areas, the source said.

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They added it is up to local councils to decide on imposing any new restrictions.

In new figures published on Thursday, Blackburn and Darwen had the highest rolling seven-day rate of new COVID-19 cases in England.

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Its rate jumped from 49.7 cases per 100,000 in the seven days to 13 July, to 81.9 in the seven days to 10 July, with 122 new cases recorded.

Second on the list was Leicester, where the rate has gone down from 102.5 in the seven days to 13 July to 65.6, and where 233 new cases have been recorded.

Luton was 12th on the list, with the rate having gone down from 31.8 to 24.8.

According to PHE, an area of intervention is one "where there is divergence from the measures in place in the rest of England because of the significance of the spread, with a detailed action plan in place, and local resources augmented with a national support".

Responding to Thursday's announcement, Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council said they had already decided to delay the reopening of leisure facilities.

Cllr Mohammed Khan, the council's leader, said: "We are very grateful to our communities for working with us.

"The increase in testing is helping to ensure that we are heading in the right direction with a reduction in positive cases and hospital admissions.

"We need to keep up the momentum with our strong prevention work so we agree its sensible not to relax the easing of restrictions at the moment to stop the spread.

"We have already decided to delay the opening of our council leisure facilities along with introducing other localised prevention measures.

"We feel that accelerating our control measures in this way will assist us to move out of having higher COVID rates even faster- we are grateful for the government's help in our local plans on this."

Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council had already announced new measures last week to help control the spread of coronavirus, as it tried to avoid a local lockdown.

This included limiting two people from the same household visiting another household; urging residents to wear face coverings in all enclosed public spaces, including workplaces; urging people not to shake hands or hug; and increasing COVID-19 testing, including for those without symptoms.

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Luton had not previously been on PHE's watchlist, although officials had noted an increase in COVID-19 cases in the area.

Luton Borough Council has recently been urging residents in local postcodes to book a coronavirus test, even if they didn't have symptoms.

Last month, shops and schools in Leicester were forced to close again, while the reopening of pubs and restaurants did not take place in the Midlands city in line with the rest of England on 4 July.

Some lifting of restrictions in Leicester - including the reopening of schools and nurseries - will occur from Friday.

The council will also be given powers to reopen non-essential shops where it is deemed safe.

However, pubs and restaurants will remain closed and gatherings of more than six people still won't be allowed.

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2020-07-23 16:49:25Z
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