Leaked documents show when Nottinghamshire lockdown restrictions to start

Stricter lockdown conditions in Nottingham and wider Nottinghamshire will be announced next Monday and come into force next Wednesday (October 14), according to documents leaked to local senior council figures.

The news comes as Nottingham recorded has the highest rate of positive coronavirus tests in England. Some 2,294 people were tested positive in the seven days to October 5 – the equivalent of 689.1 cases per 100,000 people.

Nottinghamshire Live reports that the city and county will be placed into  ‘Level Two’ of a new traffic light system for future lockdowns that will be announced on Monday, although whether that changes because of a continued increase in figures remains to be seen.

The leaked documents say that people will still be able to go on holiday outside of their area, but only with people they live with or have formed a support bubble with.

Meeting people from other households in private houses will not be allowed.

Visiting indoor hospitality, leisure and retail venues will be will be restricted to one household, unless two households are in a support bubble.

The documents say: “The national Gold (committee) has agreed the Chief Medical Officer’s recommendation for both Nottingham City and all seven districts in Nottinghamshire County to be areas of intervention.

“The Secretary of State wants to be in a position to move across to the new tiering approach, now called Local Risk Levels, in one step next week.

“There will therefore be no announcements of the Local Risk Levels from central government this week and we are currently seeking to clarify whether or not the Watchlist will be published this week accordingly.

“Our current expectation is that the approach will be announced on Monday, October 12 with the new standardised regulations coming into force on Wednesday October 14.

“Level One and Two measures have now been signed off by Covid O committee but there is further work ongoing on Level 3.”

Earlier on Thursday, David Mellen, the leader of Nottingham City Council, reacted angrily to suggestions that any further restrictions on the city might be delayed until next week.

Mellen was speaking ahead of news that Nottingham now had the highest number of coronavirus infections in the UK. The city – and perhaps wider county region – has been expected to hear about the new, stricter measures yesterday (Thursday October 8).

Speaking to the BBC Today radio programme on Thursday morning, Mellen said: “It seems like we’re victims of a government change of approach. And therefore, even though we’ve got very high numbers that we’ve known about since the beginning of the week, we’ve got til next week for government to bring in what we expect will be restrictions in Nottingham.”

Mellen added that his concern is that people in the city might treat this coming weekend as “one last blow-out” before the new rules come in.

In a statement last night, Mellen said: “I am very concerned about the Government’s decision to delay introducing extra restrictions in Nottingham. We have seen the number of cases spiral from being below the national average a few weeks ago to now the highest in the country, which is deeply concerning. We are also seeing an increase in Covid patients being admitted to hospital locally. It’s abundantly clear that stricter measures are needed. It makes the Government’s position even more questionable, with them changing from a plan to introduce extra restrictions this week to now not doing so until the middle of next week.

“This makes absolutely no sense when the numbers have grown so drastically here in such a short space of time. It’s clear that strict interventions are needed, and they are needed urgently, rather than waiting until some time next week. Worse than that, the delay leaves this weekend open to potential abuse of the existing rules, which could result in yet more Covid cases in our city.

“This unnecessarily places a huge burden on our local resources to manage and runs the risk of making a bad situation even worse in terms of infection rates. We need Government to act urgently and decisively or better still, give us the powers to let us get on with taking the action ourselves.

“We need people to stop and think for themselves, if the Government isn’t going to take the action they should on behalf of the people of Nottingham. We need them to stay at home and not mix with other households, rather than being tempted to go out one last time before any extra regulations kick in. Everyone has a responsibility to themselves, to those around them and to their loved ones. For goodness’ sake, please help stop the spread of this virus – if you aren’t taking active steps to be part of the solution, then you are part of the problem that’s facing our city.”