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Coronavirus: Blackburn with Darwen brings in new measures | |
(about 5 hours later) | |
New measures to curb the spread of Covid-19 in Blackburn with Darwen have been introduced after a spike in cases. | |
For the next month, people living within the Lancashire authority must observe the rules in a bid to avoid a Leicester-style local lockdown. | |
The new measures include tighter limits on visitors from another household, and officials have called on people to bump elbows in place of handshakes and hugs. | |
Mass testing began at the weekend after 61 new cases sprang up within a week. | Mass testing began at the weekend after 61 new cases sprang up within a week. |
Lockdown 'real possibility' | |
Residents are being told to wear cloth face coverings in all enclosed public spaces, including workplaces, libraries, museums, health centres and hair and beauty salons. | |
Blackburn with Darwen's public health director, Prof Dominic Harrison, also called for people only to bump elbows with anyone outside their immediate family. | |
He said public protection advice for small shops was being stepped up to ensure social distancing was being observed. | |
Targeted testing is taking place in the borough, and residents have been told they do not need to have symptoms to be tested. | |
Prof Harrison said: "These steps will help and we are appealing to everyone in Blackburn with Darwen to follow them to protect themselves and their loved ones. | |
"If we don't, a local lockdown, like in Leicester, becomes a very real possibility." | |
He said increased testing would mean a "rise in the number of cases" in the next seven to 10 days. | |
If rates were continuing to rise after two weeks, he said, the authority would "have to consider reversing some of the national lockdown lifting measures locally". | |
This would be done "one by one until we see a reversal in the current rising trend," he said. | |
"It's up to everyone to make sure we don't have to do that." | |
He said there would also be "targeted work" after a rise in infections within the South Asian community - in particular "cluster infections" among families living in small terraced houses. | |
When "one person gets infected in a multi-generational household, all the household members are getting infected", Prof Harrison said. | |
How Blackburn with Darwen compares | |
Figures show Blackburn with Darwen now has 41 new cases per 100,000, up from 29.5. | Figures show Blackburn with Darwen now has 41 new cases per 100,000, up from 29.5. |
Leicester, where a local lockdown has been imposed, has seen the rate fall from 156.8 in the seven days to 26 June, to 114.3 in the seven days to 10 July. | Leicester, where a local lockdown has been imposed, has seen the rate fall from 156.8 in the seven days to 26 June, to 114.3 in the seven days to 10 July. |
The second highest rate is in Pendle, Lancashire, where the rate has gone up from 14.2 to 67.8. | |
Information videos are being produced in English, Urdu and Gujurati to spread the message in the former mill town. | Information videos are being produced in English, Urdu and Gujurati to spread the message in the former mill town. |
Council leader Mohammed Khan said the authority was working to spread the message that "life cannot go back to normal just yet, and we must all make sacrifices to avoid a local lockdown". | |
"We are doing everything we can to get a grip on the virus, and we need everyone in Blackburn with Darwen to pull together to help us," he said. | |
"Please continue to do your bit to stick to the rules to protect yourself and your family." | |
Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk | Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk |