Leicester Lockdown Review: Decision may be delayed until tomorrow
A decision on whether to lift the local lockdown in Leicester may be delayed until tomorrow.
Residents in the City, Blaby District, Charnwood, Oadby and Wigston are watching developments closely, having already spent an extra 30 days longer in lockdown than anywhere else in the country (as of Wednesday, July 29).
Today (July 30th), in a post on social media, Neil O'Brien MP, whose constituency includes Oadby and Wigston, said: "I've got good news and bad news."
What are the numbers?
Latest figures from July 18th-25th show that Leicester's number of cases remain high in comparison to other areas of the country, but are falling.
Cases per 100,000 people have dropped from 75.2 to 56.0, with 199 new cases in the seven days.
That's 79 cases lower than the 135 per 100,000 which was the level when the city was pushed into the UK’s first local lockdown.
For the second day running, Oadby and Wigston have recorded no new cases of the virus.
What are experts saying?
David Paton, Professor of Industrial Economics at Nottingham University, believes the time has come to lift the local lockdown measures in the city.
What are politicians saying?The Prime Minister says he has sympathy with the leaders in Leicester:
Conservative MP Neil O'Brien, whose constituency includes Oadby and Wigston, believes it's time to end Leicester's lockdown.
What if the lockdown remains?
There are fears that the economy in Leicester and nearby Oadby and Wigston will suffer if the lockdown continues.
Jane Hesketh reports.
The review follows a recent announcement of four deaths from coronavirus in Leicester hospital in the last seven days. The patients who died were aged between their 40s and 80s.
Leicester lockdown latest: