Government Needs to Learn Lessons About Extended Lockdowns

At the time of writing, Oadby and Wigston is now out of the extended lockdown area – much to the relief of many residents.

However, your local Liberal Democrat councillors are concerned that the Government needs to improve its handling of Covid-19.

We are glad to see that Whitehall has abandoned the centralised “Track and Trace” system and is now working with local councils to use “on-the-spot” neighbourhood knowledge to improve track and trace contact rates.

It is important that councils are given the financial resources to take on this task effectively.

With some areas of life becoming a little more normal, it has been shown in other countries that an effective track and trace system is vital to managing and containing further outbreaks of the virus.

Better Communications

The government also need to take a hard look at communications with local residents when they impose or lift extended lockdowns.

When the lockdown in Oadby was finally lifted, it was announced on Twitter by the MP for this area, who then quoted the wrong day and finally made the correct announcement late on a Friday evening.

This gave businesses and residents little time to plan for the re-opening of retailers and services.

Oadby County Councillor Dean Gamble said, “I hope the government learn lessons from this. Many residents do not use social media. A clear statement of what was happening should have been provided to local radio, regional TV, press and local authorities.

“Our businesses and residents need clear, well-timed information about any changes to restrictions.”

About the (second) extended lockdown in Oadby and Wigston

By Ian Ridley and David Carter.

Health Secretary Mike Hancock announced on Thursday a further 2 week extension to the lockdown in Oadby and Wigston (and Leicester City).

In answer to queries from some residents, neither the Borough Council, nor we as your local councillors were consulted on this decision by either the Health Secretary or Nick Rushton, the Leader of the Conservative County Council.

The decision is as frustrating for us as it is for local residents and businesses. As a community we have to trust that the decision is made on public health grounds. Make no mistake, Covid-19 is a killer and it looks like even some of those who recover may be left with long-term health issues.

Until a vaccine is widely available, which will hopefully be sometime next year at the latest, the government needs to keep cases of the virus as low as possible, whilst ensuring that we have a viable economy to carry on when it is safe to do so.

Concerns about the decision

So we must continue to get tested when told to do so and follow the lockdown rules if we are to see things eased in our area.

That said, we are concerned about the apparent decision-making process. The Health Secretary said that he decided which areas to bring out of lockdown based on the advice of Nick Rushton. This seems very odd: surely a decision about the lockdown should be based on data and information from local public health officials, not advice from a local politician.

Data

That brings us onto data. Lots of numbers have been used to justify the lockdown. On reflection, this may have been a mistake. Different measures can be used to back any argument and they are often not the “right” numbers to answer the question in hand. It would have been better to have independent health officials say they’ve looked at the data and come to a view. But we’re past that point now.

With expanded testing in the lockdown areas, we need the percentage of positive cases out of the total number of tests being done. This is useful for seeing if the situation is getting better here but needs to be treated carefully when compared to the rest of the country where testing is not so intensive.

So far, Leicester data for this has been published but not for Oadby and Wigston. We think these numbers should be released as businesses and residents need to understand why we are being kept in lockdown. If the data doesn’t back the decision, the Health Secretary needs to look seriously at lifting lockdown here.

Keep Safe, Follow the Guidance

We encourage residents to continue to follow the lockdown rules. This is the best way to ensure we manage this dangerous virus in our area. As your local councillors, we will continue to try to ensure the concerns of residents and businesses are heard by the government and the MP here.

Oadby Councillors Support Call for more Lockdown Information

Oadby Councillors have supported a call by the Leader of Oadby and Wigston Borough Council, John Boyce for more information about the reasons for the extended lockdown in our area.

Councillor Boyce, along with leaders of other District Councils affected by the extension, have written to the Conservative County Council Leader, Nick Rushton, asking for the same level of information that has been made available to Leicester City Council, either from the County Council or Public Health England.

This is partly in response to residents contacting the council and councillors, asking for more information as to why their particular area has been included in the zone. Also some outside of the zone are now making decisions to remain at home or not reopen their businesses this weekend.

Your Oadby Liberal Democrat Councillors support this call for extra information. We agree that if residents and businesses have access to the data and reasoning behind the decision to include all of the areas within the lockdown zone, it will be easier for all of us to understand why the decision has been reached. This is turn will make it more likely that the extended lockdown rules will be followed.

Up to now, the information available to both the Council and Councillors has been spasmodic and unclear. As soon as we have confirmed information, we will inform our residents online.