Leicester’s mayor Sir Peter Soulsby has said localised lockdowns of parts of the city are a possibility to try to halt the spread of coronavirus - but only if testing data demonstrates they are needed.
The Government, Leicester City Council’s public health team and Public Health England are currently looking at how to stop the spread of the virus locally.
There have been reports, still as yet neither confirmed or denied by the Government, that the city will be placed back into some form of localised lockdown as restrictions elsewhere in the country continue to be gradually eased.
Sir Peter told LeicestershireLive that only when detailed postcode information has been analysed, to show where people who are testing positive live, will it be possible to determine what steps need taking.
He said: “I am up for any appropriate intervention at all, but only where the data shows it is needed, and we simply do not know that yet.
“We only started to get the detail we needed from the Government on Thursday.
“We are working our way through it and then - and only then - will it be possible to know what can be done.
“From the reliable data we do have we can see while positive tests are rising, admissions to hospital are falling, and also deaths.
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“We know where the people who enter hospital live, and where those who die came from, so I think we can safely say this is not a city-wide problem.
“That said, there may come a point, when the information shows it, that an intervention in a neighbourhood or a group of streets.”
Nobody has yet defined exactly what a local lockdown would mean. LeicestershireLive has asked the Government to show how and when it might be implemented, but is yet to receive a reply.
Sir Peter said: “I cannot see any way in which the whole city could be locked down but in specific areas it might be necessary to take steps to stop people coming into contact with each other to limit the spread of infections.”
“If it is decided that a local lockdown is needed the city council currently has no powers to implement this, and there would need to be extensive discussion around the area to be locked down, including whether this extends beyond the city boundaries.”
The city mayor and the council’s director of public health Ivan Browne are due to meet with government officials at 9am on Monday (29 June) to discuss the latest data.
At the moment, ahead of any concrete proposals about a lockdown, the city council is urging people to maintain two-metre social distancing with anyone they do not live with and regularly and thoroughly wash their hands.
It hopes this will bring down the rate of infection so no more radical steps would be required.