Is lockdown working? London businesses urge Government to give city a chance amid claims curbs are helping

R number for transmission heading closer to one in many parts of EnglandCritics question whether London needed a lockdownBusiness chiefs say capital must be put in tier which will allow city to  reopen
Coronavirus -Sat Nov 7, 2020
A cyclist passes boarded up premises in London 
PA

Lockdown is starting to work in the battle against Covid-19, a Cabinet minister claimed today, as business chiefs appealed for London to be given a chance to recover when restrictions are lifted.

Official data is understood to show that the number of coronavirus infections in the community in England is still growing but less quickly in recent weeks.

The R number for transmission is also heading closer to one in many parts of the country, which means the number of new cases is stabilising there.

Striking an upbeat note, Business Secretary Alok Sharma told Sky News: “The measures that we have put in place, the national restrictions, are making a difference.

“We have seen some progress… and I want to thank everyone for all the effort and the sacrifices that quite frankly they have had to make.”  

It is still very early to see definitively the impact of the lockdown and the rate of growth in new cases in London is not yet showing the possible plateauing as in the national picture.

Health chiefs believe this could be down to the capital having been in Tier 2, rather than Tier 3, during half term and in the run-up to lockdown, so more socialising may have taken place, leading to more infections than in some Covid hotspots in the North and Midlands.

Critics question whether London needed a lockdown, given that  cases were relatively low and appeared to be stabilising, and say it may have fuelled the disease’s spread as many people went out socialising before it came in.

The capital is still expected to see a slowing of the disease but this may not be clear until next week.  

The decision on which tier the city is put in when lockdown ends on December 2 could therefore be more difficult than for other parts of the country which might be seeing a more marked fall in new cases.

Business chiefs, though, today  warned that London must be put into a tier which will allow the city to  reopen.

Jace Tyrrell, who is chief executive of New West End Company, said: “Our hope is that the Government will recognise that the capital can be safely and sustainably reopened for business from December 3.

“There are three weeks to save Christmas in the West End, we’ve got to give these businesses every chance available to rescue Christmas.”  

Rowena Howie, London policy chair, Federation of Small Businesses, said: “Businesses need clarity with at least 10 days to prepare for December 3 and not be left waiting with bated breath on the weekend before the lockdown is due to end.”

Richard Burge, chief executive of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said in a letter to Mayor Sadiq Khan seen by the Standard that  “it is imperative that restrictions in the capital are eased as soon as the evidence allows.”  

He wrote: “A weekly review of London’s status is necessary to ensure economic activity resumes as quickly and safely as possible.”

They issued their calls as:

  • Mr Sharma said “checks were done” in the case of a Spanish businessman acting as a go-between to provide personal protective equipment to the UK who was reportedly given £21 million of taxpayers’ cash. The National Audit Office found ministers set aside normal standards of transparency as they scrambled to secure £18billion of supplies and services in response to the coronavirus crisis, with firms recommended by MPs, peers and ministers’ offices given priority.
  • Baroness Harding, who leads the NHS Test and Trace programme, revealed that she is self-isolating after receiving an alert from the service she runs.
  • Mr Sharma said that it was too early to say whether, as reported, families may be allowed to mix indoors for a five-day period starting on Christmas Eve. “I want to have my mum and dad around, I want to have members of my family around that Christmas table. I just think it’s too early to be reaching any conclusions on that,” he told BBC Breakfast.
  • Care minister Helen Whately was overseeing a drive to get regular  testing of care home visitors available across the country so people can visit relatives in care homes before Christmas.
  • Ministers were urged to consider putting workers at high risk from Covid, such as bus drivers, among  the higher priority categories to get a vaccine.  

Professor Philip Clarke, director of  the Health Economics Research Centre at Oxford University, told BBC Radio: “There were many occupations,  particularly in London at the time, when the pandemic was at its highest in the first wave, who had deaths at many times the rates of health care workers.”

Data published today showed a sharp drop in travel for recreation and retail after lockdown was introduced, as well as for work.  

Four days after lockdown came into force on November 5, confirmed Covid cases reached just over 31,000 a day on November 9. They then fell, to 27,169 on November 10, 27,293 on November 11, 24,024 on the November 12 and 23,648 on November 13, a similar trend to the previous week.

However, hospitalisations are still rising and inevitably so will the number of fatalities.

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