Another Yorkshire city faces tougher COVID-19 restrictions

Further restrictions on different households mixing are expected to be introduced in Leeds tonight to help curb a rise in cases of Covid-19.

The latest seven-day Covid-19 rate in Leeds is 98.5 per 100,000 people, with 8.4% of those tested being positive and cases showing a consistent upward trend for a number of weeks.

Following discussions between Leeds City Council, the Government, Public Health England and partners, Leeds has been named as an area of intervention meaning extra measures will be put in place to control the spread of the virus within the community.

These measures will mean that from midnight on Friday 25 September:

• People in Leeds cannot meet or host people you do not live with in private homes or gardens unless they are in your support bubble. A support bubble is where a household with one adult joins with another household
• You cannot visit someone else’s home or garden even if they live outside of Leeds, unless they are in your support bubble
• People can still come inside your home or garden for specific purposes. These include where everyone in the gathering lives together or is in the same support bubble; to attend a birth at the mother’s request; to visit a person who is dying; to fulfil a legal obligation; for work purposes, or for the provision of voluntary or charitable services; for the purposes of education or training; for the purposes of childcare; to provide emergency assistance; to enable one or more persons in the gathering to avoid injury or illness or to escape a risk of harm; to facilitate a house move; to provide care or assistance to a vulnerable person
• Existing arrangements for access to, and contact between, parents and children where the children do not live in the same household as their parents, or one of their parents will remain exempt
• Friends and family can also still provide informal childcare for children under 14

In addition to these restrictions, people in Leeds are also being advised:

• Not to socialise with people you do not live with, unless they are in your support bubble, in any public venue either in Leeds or elsewhere. Examples of public venues include pubs, restaurants, cafes, shops, places of worship, community centres, leisure and entertainment venues, or visitor attractions and parks
• Not to visit friends or family in care homes, other than in exceptional circumstances. Care homes should restrict visits to these circumstances
• To follow all relevant transport guidance when making a journey into, within or out of the areas affected, wear a face covering on public transport and try not to share a car with those outside your household or support bubble

Councillor Judith Blake, leader of Leeds City Council said: “We are acutely aware that nobody wants to see further restrictions placed on life in Leeds and alongside our partners we have been doing absolutely everything within our power to avoid that.

“But the safety of the city and the public simply has to come first and we have now reached a point where we all need to take additional steps to contain the spread of this terrible virus within our communities.

“How long these new measures last and how much further they may need go in the coming weeks and months will depend on everyone playing their part.”

Victoria Eaton, Leeds City Council’s director of public health said: “Any restrictions on seeing the people close to you are incredibly difficult to take but these rules have been put in place to protect families, friends and neighbours from a virus which is spreading at a dangerously rapid rate.”