IAN Courts, the leader of Solihull Council, has reminded residents to ‘do the right thing’ amid an ‘extremely concerning’ rise in coronavirus cases in the region.
West Midlands Police and public health leaders are in talks over a Birmingham lockdown, which would could impact travel from Solihull.
Cases in Birmingham have doubled over August – from 12 per 100,000 at the start of the month to 30 per 100,000 today (August 21).
Though Birmingham is not the worst city for coronavirus case rises, even a partial lockdown in the city would affect the West Midlands region.
The rise in cases of almost 60 per cent was described as ‘extremely concerning’ by Birmingham City Council leader Ian Ward, who urged the city to do everything to avoid a local lockdown.
Supt Gareth Morris, of West Midlands police, posted in a blog: “The impact on people’s lives and businesses has already been so significantly affected by the national lockdown that we must try and do all we can to prevent that occurring in Birmingham and taking us into a state of city-wide lockdown.”
Dr Justin Varney, Birmingham’s director of public health, said: “What we do in the next seven days will decide if we go into lockdown or not. If we do it will be for at least two or three weeks, and that will be devastating.”
Concerns are growing in Solihull about the prospect of a Birmingham lockdown. Coun Ian Courts said: “You will see our ‘do the right thing’ campaign being rolled out across the borough so watch out for this and do share these messages with friends and family. Please do also get tested through NHS Test and Trace if you have any symptoms.
“With Covid-19 rates rising in a number of areas around the country, most notably now in our neighbour Birmingham, it’s important you know that here in Solihull we continue to monitor the situation closely. Our Health Protection Board remains vigilant, so that we can work together quickly to address local changes in rates and therefore minimise the need to impose more formal restrictions.”
