County residents urged not to seek ‘loopholes’ to Covid restrictions as infections surge

Cases in Leicestershire are now rising at a faster rate than the England national average, partly as a result of people mixing more indoors over the festive season.

Police, council and NHS leaders urged people to stay at home and not risk spreading coronavirus even further as they gathered today (Friday) for an online media briefing.

County council leader, Nick Rushton, said: “This is the third lockdown and I know there is an element of lockdown fatigue, particularly among young people.

“I would ask people not to try to find loopholes to get round the restrictions but to try to observe the rules.

“It may seem like a dark time but the vaccine is coming and we can see light at the end of the tunnel.”

His sentiments were echoed by Assistant Chief Constable Kerry Smith, of Leicestershire Police, who said her officers had so far given out 939 fixed penalty notices for flouting Covid restrictions this winter, including 25 to people who had hosted large gatherings and who were fined £10,000 each.

She told the briefing: “We want to encourage people to stay at home as much as possible.

“We need people to use common sense and take personal responsibility for keeping informed.

“You need to have a permitted reason to leave your house or you may face a fine.

“We will deal with those who blatantly ignore these rules as they are putting everyone’s safety at further risk.

“Working together we can tackle this virus and keep our families safe.”

The message being given across Leicestershire is that this could be the last chance to prevent a catastrophic peak in cases with hospitals already under strain as they deal with increasing numbers of Covid patients.

With the county infection rate jumping by 62 per cent in the seven days to January 2, certain areas have gone up even higher, including North West Leicestershire (92 per cent), Harborough (84) plus Hinckley and Bosworth (67),

Cases in Melton borough have only gone up modestly in comparison - 20 per cent - but the 304.6 positive tests per 100,000 population is still among the highest in the borough since the pandemic began.

Crucially, the pressure on the NHS is at a tipping point with hospital admissions well above what was seen during the first peak in April.

Mike Sandys, director of public health at County Hall, said: “It’s clear that over the Christmas and New Year period we’ve been hit hard.

“Leicestershire’s infection rate is now as high as it’s ever been and only Melton has not seen an increase of more than 50 per cent.

“It’s safe to assume that this is to do with the backlash around Christmas and the highly infectious new variant.”

Mr Sandys said the steep rise in county cases was across all ages.

He added: “The new strain is now the dominant strain across the county and that’s adding to existing pressures so people do need to stay at home or we’ll be in real trouble.

“The hope is that the lockdown has come in fast enough to choke off the worst of the increase, but it will take a while for that to be reflected in the figures – rates will continue to rise over the next few days.”