BIRMINGHAM, Solihull and Sandwell face increased lockdown restrictions after a big spike in infections.
1.6m people in the UK’s second city, neighbouring Solihull and Sandwell, are to be banned from mixing with other households by law from Tuesday September 15.
West Midlands mayor Andy Street confirmed the restrictions would not prevent schools, the workplace or public transport Street but urged the public to start adhering immediately.
According to NHS Digital data, the latest seven-day rate for the city to September 8 rose to 78.2 cases per 100,000 – the highest in Birmingham since April’s peak. For the previous seven-day period, the rate was just over 30. Solihull’s latest infection rate for the week ending September 8 was 62.8.
Coventry has also seen cases of coronavirus double in a week, as 30 cases per 100,000 people between September 2 Sep-8 – a total of 113, compared to 49 in the previous week.
But as numbers rise across the region, people with symptoms in Coventry and Warwickshire are experiencing huge difficulties in booking tests.
One Warwickshire resident told the Observer today she has been trying to book a Coronavirus test for two days in Rugby but was referred to Leicester and another site further up north – even though she saw staff were sat at her nearest local testing centre in the car park waiting to test people. “It’s so frustrating,” she said. She has reported the issue to her local MP, Mark Pawsey, and is awaiting a response.
The Coventry and Warwickshire Healthcare system has said it is aware of issues affecting the national testing programme which are preventing people with symptoms from getting a test.
It says: “Although these issues are out of our control, we are able to provide the following guidance for anyone affected:
- Try requesting a test via the national online testing system at specific times of the day – early morning or after 8pm.
- If you have Covid-19 symptoms, self-isolate for 10 days or until you are able to get a test result.
- Ensure your household members self-isolate for 14 days until you or they are able to get a test result.
- do not contact your GP or NHS111 as they are unable to assist.
As is being reported in the national media, the current issues within the testing programme are the subject of intense focus and it is hoped that local testing capacity will improve as soon as possible.” To request a test, it says to go to https://www.gov.uk/testing-for-coronavirus
West Midlands mayor Andy Street, who had travelled to London to meet with officials, said earlier this week additional restrictions in Birmingham were “very, very likely”. He said: “The ban will take effect from Tuesday September 15, but residents are advised to avoid household mixing before then as it has been identified as one of the drivers of transmission.” He added the ban applies to the whole of Birmingham, Sandwell and Solihull.
Concluding his statement, Mr Street said: “This decision has been made in collaboration with local leaders who are considering additional local measures to tackle the increase in the number of cases.
Mr Street said the full Government announcement on measures, potentially affecting other areas of the country, will be made “later”. The mayor also said younger people “had got to take responsibility”, with the biggest growth in cases in the under-40s age group.
The city’s director of public health Dr Justin Varney said the rise in cases is “linked primarily to private household gatherings” at the end of August and across the bank holiday weekend. An increase in testing had also turned up more positive results, he added.
Licensed premises, like pubs and bars, and restaurants flouting contact tracing rules and social distancing are also believed to be part of the problem behind rising rates.
Birmingham City Council rapidly introduced tougher measures – agreed with the Government – including a legally-enforced crackdown on businesses flouting Covid-19 measures. A whistleblowers’ hotline set up in August allowing people to report rule-breaking businesses has had more than 800 calls.
Two restaurants in the city were then sanctioned by council officials for hosting larger-than-allowed gatherings, in breach of Government guidelines. An asylum centre in the Edgbaston area was also handed a direction order, forcing it to tighten Covid-19 control measures, after 56 staff and residents tested positive – the city’s largest outbreak to date.
Birmingham is third in a national table of local authority areas with the highest infection rates, behind Bolton and Sunderland. Bolton’s seven-day rate currently stands at 143 cases per 100,000, and Sunderland is on 84, according to data from NHS Digital. Solihull’s latest infection rate for the week ending September 8 was 62.8. Sandwell has grappled with stubbornly high infection rates for weeks.
Only last week, the head of England’s biggest NHS hospital trust said there was “absolutely no scientific evidence” that coronavirus is weakening, as he warned against complacency in Birmingham.
Dr David Rosser, of University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust, said rumours the virus has significantly “mutated” into a less virulent form are incorrect and medics are “deeply concerned” about an increase in hospital admissions.
