Coronavirus restrictions could be tightened in Cheshire

A tightening of coronavirus restrictions could soon come to Cheshire, after Cheshire West and Chester Council moved to request extra regulations from the government.

The decision was made at CWAC’s Covid-19 Outbreak Board — meaning leader Cllr Louise Gittins will begin discussions with her Cheshire East counterpart, Cllr Sam Corcoran on the issue.

The two authorities are aiming to work together to avoid residents from one borough crossing into another where rules are looser.

At the meeting, Cllr Gittins said: “We would rather do something sooner than later. We need to work with Cheshire East, and we should look to restrict movement between households.

“We need to do this for the greater good, we need to protect the vulnerable. We will work closely with Cheshire East to talk to the government about the possibility of extra restrictions around households mixing with each other.”

It comes a day after Cllr Corcoran called for tighter restrictions across the borough and urged residents to go ‘only go out when really necessary’ in a video on Twitter.

Over the weekend, both boroughs recorded 167 new cases between them, as CWAC’s infection rate rose to 55 cases per 100,000 residents.

Covid outbreak board meeting on Monday evening

It was also revealed at the meeting that five percent of all tests in the borough are now positive — up from 1.2 percent a week ago.

Ian Ashworth, Director of Public Health, said that this passed the council’s own early-warning threshold of 50 cases per 100,000 — and recommended councillors take action now.

Mr Ashworth told the board that he believed the borough had done well to keep its infection rate as low as it is for so long, but now was the time to act as a preventative step.

He also praised residents’ co-operation with the existing measures, saying: “Residents have made the difference as they have supported us by social distancing and wearing face masks.

“They are one of the main reasons why we have done so well.”

While the exact content of any new restrictions would be unknown until the Department for Health announces them, it was suggested they would be modelled on similar controls seen in Halton and Warrington.

Cheshire East’s own outbreak board will meet today, September 29, to discuss its plans for dealing with the recent rise in Covid-19 cases.

By Ethan Davies – Local Democracy Reporter