UK Government Adds Five New Hotspots to its Watchlist

Five new coronavirus hotspots in England have been added to the UK governments watchlist.

The Government’s official Covid-19 watchlist now includes Leeds, South Tyneside, Corby, Middlesbrough and Kettering as areas of concern while the pandemic continues to disrupt the UK financially and socially. These places will see extra testing capacity added in an effort to nip their own rising Covid-19 numbers in the bud, said a government spokesman.

The latest seven-day infection rate in Leeds rose to 32.4 cases per 100,000 people making the city an ‘area of concern’. Locals are now being urged to be extra vigilant when going to pubs, restaurants and especially social gatherings. The data implies that many Covid-19 cases are spread across different areas of the city, which indicates they are linked to social interaction and leisure activities.

It has also been noted that the disease is also increasingly present in younger people between the ages of 18 and 34. Meanwhile Norfolk, Rossendale and Northampton will be added to the watchlist as they are now classed as “areas of enhanced support”.

Indoor swimming pools, including water parks, indoor fitness and dance studios, indoor gyms and sports courts and facilities will be able to lawfully reopen from Tuesday 8 September throughout Leicester, remaining parts of Blackburn with Darwen and other remaining parts of Bradford.

Restrictions on gatherings will stay in place in Greater Manchester, parts of Lancashire and West Yorkshire as health officials believe the rate of infections is still too high. If cases can’t be kept down in these areas with a tougher testing regime, stricter rules might soon have to be brought in.

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Tony Winterburn

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