Restrictions on social gatherings for more than half a million people in two of England’s worst-hit areas have been lifted, despite councils warning the government it was too soon to lift the measures.
The government pressed ahead with the lifting of restrictions for more than 520,000 people in Bolton and Trafford in north-west England overnight despite a surge in the number of cases in both areas.
Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, on Wednesday criticised the decision as “completely illogical” and urged residents in the two boroughs to ignore government advice and continue to follow restrictions.
“We find ourselves in a completely unsustainable position this morning. That’s the politest way I can put it,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme “Overnight we’ve had restrictions lifted in two boroughs with rising cases – in one case in the red zone – and neighbouring boroughs are still under restrictions but with much lower numbers of cases.
“These restrictions were always hard to explain to the public but they’re completely illogical now.”
The confusion follows days of anger from Labour MPs and council leaders who said they and their directors of public health had been “completely ignored” by Matt Hancock, the health secretary, in order to appease Conservative MPs. Most of the areas where restrictions were lifted overnight, including Hyndburn in Lancashire and parts of West Yorkshire, are at least partly represented by Tory politicians.
Bolton has the joint-highest infection rate in England at 56.4 cases per 100,000 people, according to the latest NHS Digital data, yet its 285,000 residents are officially free to mix with other households for the first time since 31 July.
However, residents in nearby Salford, Rochdale, Bury, Tameside – which all have lower rates of infection than Bolton and Trafford – are still under the restrictions.
Bolton’s infection rate is five times the England average and double the threshold used by the government to add foreign countries to the quarantine list. In Trafford, the infection rate is three times the England average, at 36 cases per 100,000 people, following a sharp rise in cases last week.
Greater Manchester leaders are pressing for a change in approach towards door-to-door testing and tracing, instead of piecemeal lifting of blanket measures across whole boroughs.
People in the Greater Manchester borough of Stockport, as well as Burnley and Hyndburn in Lancashire, were also freed from the restrictions on Wednesday following the decision announced by Hancock last Friday.
The measures, imposed 36 days ago, have also been lifted in parts of Bradford, Calderdale and Kirklees in West Yorkshire.
Council leaders in Bolton and Trafford wrote to Hancock on Tuesday asking him to change course, only four days after the health secretary announced the plans.
Conservative-led Bolton council had last week asked to be removed from the restrictions imposed on 31 July, while the Labour-run Trafford council warned it was too early to do so.
Andrew Western, the Labour leader of Trafford council, wrote to Hancock on Tuesday to complain that his authority’s health officials had been overruled to appease Tory MPs in what he describe as a “haphazard and nakedly political approach”
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In a letter, he told the health secretary Trafford’s infection rate had increased 100% over the past week and that its representations, urging for restrictions to be kept in place for at least two weeks to allow the safe opening of schools, had been “completely ignored”.
The area’s Tory MP, Graham Brady, the influential chair of the Conservatives’ 1922 Committee, had wanted the measures to be eased.
source https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/02/covid-lockdown-eased-in-two-of-englands-worst-hit-areas-despite-surge-in-cases-bolton-trafford
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