COMPLACENT Silhillians who flout the Covid-19 rules have been criticised by a council boss as cases continue to rise in the borough.
Councillor Ian Courts, leader of Solihull Council, said he is extremely alarmed when he sees people in the borough not social distancing, not wearing face coverings and an attitude of ‘everything is all right.’
He said: “The hospitals are filling up: as night follows day, if more people get ill, sadly more people will die.
“Already this month regrettably we have lost two residents to Covid-19, the first since the summer.
“So I am extremely alarmed by the complacency I sometimes see around me.
“People not social distancing and not wearing face coverings, alongside an attitude of ‘basically everything is all right, although it may be getting a bit worse. But don’t worry though’.
“We all need to pass on the message to others, including our younger people, that we must all take action to protect against the virus spreading.”
Latest figures show between October 18 and 24 Solihull’s infection rate was 234 cases per 100,000.
This compares to the 214.4 per 100,00 cases recorded for the West Midlands from October 16 to 22.
Between October 18 and 24 there were a further 506 confirmed positive cases in the borough – an increase of 85 on the previous week – and brings the total cases in Solihull to 3,239.
There have been 271 Covid-19-related deaths in the borough.
Coun Courts said: “Every single ward in Solihull now has a rate above 50 per 100,000 (and most are much, much higher) and increasing. Nowhere in the borough is immune from the virus.
“It’s in our hands and we’re now running out of time.
“Covid-19 is now killing people again in increasing numbers.
“The siren calls for another lockdown are to be expected and I have lobbied against this as I don’t think we can cope with more restrictions either socially or economically.
“However, the spread of the virus is becoming too great and we may have no choice.”
Solihull was placed into tier two – high alert level – earlier this month which prevents households from mixing indoors but shops, pubs and restaurants remain open.
Coun Courts is calling on residents to boost Solihull’s economy by shopping local and supporting small businesses.
He said: “We now have three New Business Investment Assistants on the ground in our local centres gathering feedback and offering support as funded through our Reopening High Streets Safely Fund.
“They’re also promoting our #supportlocal campaign which was launched last week in the Solihull Observer.
“We’ll continue our ‘Shop Local’ #supportlocal campaign in the lead up to Christmas/Small Business Saturday, so watch out for our #SupportlocalSolihull #SupportlocalKnowle #SupportlocalShirley and #WMOpen4Biz hashtags on social media.”
