Coronavirus: Leicester cases ‘still well above’ rest of UK as government prepares to review lockdown

City’s seven-day infection count fallen from 159.1 cases per 100,000 people to 119.9, according latest data

The number of Covid-19 cases in Leicester remains too high, health secretary Matt Hancock has warned, as government officials prepare to review the city’s current lockdown measures.

Restrictions were tightened across the East Midlands city on Monday 29 June following a spike in infections, with all non-essential shops and schools closed as part of the government’s “whack-a-mole” strategy for dealing with localised outbreaks.

The city’s seven-day infection count has since fallen from 159.1 cases per 100,000 people to 119.9, according to the most recently available data, but Mr Hancock has said the number of positive cases in Leicester remains “well above” the rest of the UK.

The Independent reported last week that the government has yet to devise a concrete strategy for Leicester’s route out of its lockdown, amid uncertainty over whether the tightening of restrictions has actually proved effective in combating the local outbreak.

Now, the health secretary has said government officials will assess the last 14 days’ worth of data to determine whether it is safe to reopen the city, adding that the review will be made on Thursday.

“There is a process for whether changes can be made in Leicester,” he told the House of Commons on Tuesday.

“Thankfully the numbers have been coming down in Leicester and we have put in that extra testing.

“But the number of positive cases in Leicester is still well above the rest of the country.

“I won’t pre-judge the decision that we’ll take on Thursday and we’ll take into account all of the data.

“We won’t set out specific thresholds, instead we’ll look at all of the data – both the level and the rate of change – and make the appropriate decision in consultation with the local authorities.”

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth asked about the Leicester lockdown and what metrics would be used to judge whether the city could ease the measures.

Mr Hancock said: “The process is that we will look at 14 days of data – it is today 14 days since the measures were introduced.

“We’ll look at that on Thursday of this week and make a public announcement, as soon as is reasonably possible, about whether and if any changes can be made to the situation in Leicester.”

Local NHS officials have meanwhile said that the Leicester outbreak has highlighted the pressing need to tackle health inequalities within the area.

Issues around deprivation, ethnicity and numbers of people registered with GPs were raised at a meeting of the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Clinical Commissioning Groups (LLR CCGs) governing body on Tuesday morning.

Opening the meeting, Prof Azhar Farooqi, clinical chair of the Leicester City CCG, said: “One of the learnings... from this lockdown is really the impact of deprivation and ethnicity on health inequalities.

“I think as a CCG this has really brought to us a focus around the barriers... social, cultural and language to accessing health, and the impact of health beliefs.”

Prof Mayur Lakhani, clinical chair of the West Leicestershire CCG, said the health inequality agenda was “very, very key”, adding that “racial inequalities” were “notable” in the wider CCGs’ area.

Andy Williams, LLR CCGs chief executive, said: “Once again we see the impact of illness, in this instance Covid-19, impacting asymmetrically on our population”.

He explained that there were “structural in-built inequalities” in general society which meant disease impacts “asymmetrically the poorest or most disadvantaged”.