Lancashire enters highest level of UK Covid restrictions

Lancashire has agreed to shut pubs and enter the “very high” alert level of the UK government’s new lockdown system after negotiating a deal with ministers.

It doubles the number of people in the UK living under the tightest rules to 3.1m, after Liverpool city region entered so-called “tier 3” on Wednesday.

From Saturday, pubs in the county can only stay open if they can operate as restaurants, and there is a ban on household mixing indoors or out. It affects 1.5m people, including towns such as Blackpool and Blackburn, and aims to bring down rising rates of coronavirus that could overwhelm hospitals. 

Burnley had England’s fourth highest infection rate, at 605 cases per 100,000 in the week to October 11, a 50 per cent increase on the week before. Among over-60s in Lancashire the rate is 214 cases per 100,000 people.

The government said the number of patients with Covid-19 in intensive care beds has reached nearly half the number at the height of the pandemic in the spring, and the latest data suggested there would be more people on ventilators within two weeks than there were in the first wave.

Gyms and leisure centres will remain open, unlike in Liverpool. Casinos, soft play centres and adult gaming centres must shut.

The region will get £12m to enforce the measures and take more responsibility for the test and trace system.

Matt Hancock, health secretary, said: “An unrelenting rise in cases in Lancashire means we must act now, and we have worked intensively with local leaders to agree on additional restrictions.

“I know how heavy these additional challenges will weigh on everyday life for the people of Lancashire — but they are critical in bringing this virus under control.”

The move piles pressure on other northern areas, such as Greater Manchester and north-east England, who are holding out for more financial support before accepting they should enter tier 3. The government has offered to pay 66 per cent of wages of those whose workplaces close.

Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester, Jamie Driscoll, mayor of North Tyne, and Steve Rotheram, mayor of Liverpool city region, issued a defiant joint statement on Friday. 

“We are all united in fighting for an 80 per cent furlough scheme for all people affected by regional lockdowns, wherever they are in the country. Paying two-thirds of salaries will not be enough to protect the jobs of thousands — it should at least match the 80 per cent that was available under furlough, with the minimum wage as the minimum support.”

The government has said universal credit benefit would ensure those on the lowest incomes got 90 per cent of their wages but the mayors added: “It doesn’t help everybody and takes weeks to come through. It will not prevent severe hardship for thousands of low paid workers before Christmas.”

They added that self-employed and freelancers also needed support. “This is a fight for what is right,” they said.

They also argue that the extra measures will do little to reduce infection levels. 

The government has the power to impose restrictions but is reluctant to do so without local support. They want local leaders to share the responsibility and ensure people follow the rules. 

The mayors’ statement followed comments on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Friday by Dominic Raab, foreign secretary, criticising Mr Burnham’s stance and insisting that the current support levels were adequate.

“We’ve taken the balanced, careful approach — targeted measures, a huge amount of support that’s going for those local levels, carefully targeted,” Mr Raab said, contrasting the government’s approach with what he said was the national lockdown the mayors’ stance would bring about.

“I think that that’s the approach that the people of Greater Manchester want,” Mr Raab went on. “That’s also the way that we avoid a more severely restrictive set of national measures. We can only make it work with the co-operation of local leaders.”

He insisted furlough support was fair and the government was trying to protect jobs and the most vulnerable.