Lockdown fears in Burton as 35 coronavirus cases are reported in a small part of the town

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Fears of a local lockdown are brewing in Burton upon Trent where 35 new Covid-19 cases have been detected in the past fortnight.

The spike has been centered in two areas of the East Staffordshire town – Anglesey and Shobnall – and has only been spotted since ‘Super Saturday’ on July 4.

Local health chiefs say restrictions may be tightened if the outbreak can’t be ‘nipped in the bud’.

They haven’t yet imposed any additional measurements on top of the advice given to the rest of England, such as sticking to social distancing and hand washing.

Councillors said they are speaking to faith leaders, shop and business owners, in an effort to control the outbreak.

Most of the cases are among the South Asian population, following the same pattern in Blackburn – another town facing the threat of a local lockdown. 

Leicester is still the only place in the UK to have been hit by local Covid-controlling measures. Health Secretary Matt Hancock last night revealed the city’s lockdown would be extended for at least another two weeks on the premise that infections had not lowered enough. 

The spike has been centered in two areas of the East Staffordshire town – Anglesey and Shobnall – since ‘Super Saturday’ on July 4

The county council has claimed there are no current plans for Burton to return to a strict lockdown.

However, Dr Richard Harling, Staffordshire County Council’s director of health and care, said that a local lockdown ‘could happen in Burton, which was no different to anywhere else in the country’, if the situation got worse, Derbyshire Live reported.   

In a statement posted last night, Staffordshire County Council said: ‘There have been 35 positive cases reported in and around the Anglesey and Shobnall areas since lockdown eased on July 4.’

Fourteen of the new cases are reportedly spread over two families and were tracked down by NHS contact tracers. 

Wakefield is expecting to be identified as an ‘area of concern’ 

Wakefield is expecting to be identified as an ‘area of concern’ following an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in the West Yorkshire district.

The local authority area has been hit by localised outbreaks in factories and concern has grown after the resulting testing showed the majority of those found positive were asymptomatic. 

The council said in a statement: ‘Further to the release of government data showing an increase in the number of cases of Covid-19, it is expected that the Wakefield district will be identified as an ‘area of concern’.’ 

The city’s director of public health, Anna Hartley, said: ‘The increase in case numbers has resulted from two large workplace outbreaks, where workforce testing identified large numbers of asymptomatic cases. 

‘It is this early warning system that has identified the need for everyone to increase their efforts to tackle the spread of the virus, especially in areas of our lives where social distancing is not possible. 

‘Now is absolutely not the time to be complacent. We must all work together to take action and follow the simple safety advice to protect ourselves and each other.’ 

Ms Hartley said the council was exploring making community testing available in areas of higher concern for people who do not have symptoms. 

She said: ‘Even though more things are starting to return to normal, the threat of Covid-19 remains a very real threat to our health and the health of our family, friends and colleagues.’ 

Ms Hartley urged residents to keep taking precautions including hand-washing and wearing masks in enclosed public places. 

She said: ‘There is a growing concern that the number of people testing positive for the virus will continue to rise, and that the risk of more localised outbreaks remains – unless people take more action to reduce the spread of infection.’ 

Outbreaks in the Wakefield district have included a group of cases at a bed factory in Ossett and a food plant in Normanton. Earlier this week the council confirmed 18 new positive cases at a home for asylum seekers in the city. 

‘Although there is currently no significant concern in the town or plans for any lockdown measures there have been a number of single cases and two family-related clusters,’ the statement read.

‘Residents in Burton are being called on to stick to the Covid-19 rules and get tested immediately if they have symptoms to help prevent the spread of infection in the community.’ 

Dr Harling said over the ‘last few weeks there were a couple of days when we had quite a lot’ of cases in the East Staffordshire area – on average between five and ten cases per day. 

Staffordshire generally saw a drop of cases in the week leading up to July 5, according to Public Health England (PHE) data. 

But from July 6 to 12, a further 74 cases were diagnosed.

Dr Harling said 25 people had tested positive across Burton upon Trent’s area of East Staffordshire specifically in the past 10 days alone – 12 on July 7, 10 on July 9 and one each on July 11, 12 and 13. 

Postcode-level information for Burton upon Trent and every other town and village finally became available yesterday after PHE released a new interactive map showing new cases.

Yesterday figures showed there were 14 cases were diagnosed in the parish of Shobnall, where some 5,000 people live, in the week between July 6 and 12.

Burton Central, which partially includes the parish of Anglesey, where some 7,000 people live, recorded 12 cases. Burton Horninglow saw four. 

Burton has remained open for business, but one school closed a day ahead of summer break last night in fear of a further spread of infection.

Paget High School announced that it closed its doors early for the summer holidays yesterday, July 16, in response to the news of new cases in the Anglesey and Shobnall areas.

Writing on Facebook, head teacher Ian Brierly said: ‘In order to mitigate any possibility of spreading the infection, the governors and I believe it is everyone’s best interest and safety to close one day early.’

Local media report most of the new cases are among South Asians, who are at significantly higher risk of severe illness than white people.

Alan White, Staffordshire County Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Health, Care and Wellbeing, said: ‘We know that people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds (BAME) also face a higher risk from Covid-19 so it is important as ever not to let our guard down.

‘As a county council. we are doing everything we can to act swiftly to contain any outbreaks and by acting now we can work together to help prevent the further spread of infection.’

It follows the same concerns in Blackburn with Darwen, the most at risk of a Leicester-style lockdown, saying most new cases in the area were among South Asian people. 

Dominic Harrison, the authority’s director of public health, said 85 per cent of the 114 new cases were people from South Asian backgrounds. That’s despite the South Asian community only accounting for 30 per cent of the council’s 150,000 population.

Many other areas of England which have the current highest infection rates of Covid-19, such as Bradford, Rochdale and Oldham, also have large South Asian communities.