The first “local lockdown” in the United Kingdom might be about to begin in the city of Leicester and the surrounding county of Leicestershire, as an uptick in COVID-19 cases has warranted the attention of senior figures in the British government.
With the outbreak largely confined to the city and surrounding area, the local and national governments are working in tandem to significantly reduce the possibility of the virus spreading out en masse to other areas of England again, especially in the wake of the irresponsible beachgoers in Bournemouth over the past few days. Matt Hancock and Sir Peter Soulsby had a video-call earlier today to confer on the actions to be taken over the coming days, with a delay to the July 4th easing on lockdown restrictions being almost guaranteed at this point.
Although the government has previously alked about lockdown in purely national terms, as the UK emerges from the lockdown, more regionalised responses are clearly becoming a necessity to combat the twin evils of the virus and economic downturn. The plethora of negative indicators for the economy going into the latter half of 2020 and into 2021 are surely weighing heavily on the minds of the ministers.
Written by Oliver Haythorn
Media by Ben Hyland
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