COUNCIL LEADER SEEKS TO REASSURE DISTRICT 'ALL PART OF EMERGENCY PLANNING IN EVENT OF A LOCAL LOCKDOWN'

WOOLPACK WAY CAR PARKS WILL HOUSE 'BELT AND TRACES' STRATEGIC RESPONSE ON SUNDAY AND MONDAY

ELSEWHERE, COUNTY'S CONFIRMED CASES UP BY 11 IN LAST 24 HOURS

COUNCIL bosses in Atherstone today re-iterated a "no cause for concern" message on the imminent return of a Covid-19 mobile testing unit to the town as Government medical chiefs warned of a worrying spike in virus numbers.

The reassuring comments from North Warwickshire local authority leader David Wright comes just hours before the Prime Minister tells the country of what additional plans will accompany making social gatherings of more than six people illegal.

Reports have included the possible introduction of curfews on pub opening hours as ministers have expressed fears that the asymptomatic younger age groups could unknowingly pass on infection to their older, and more vulnerable, grandparents.

Over the past month, the borough council has adopted a consistent 'belt-and-traces' policy to coronavirus – working on the principle of putting in place measures to enable a "quick response" to local outbreaks.

The borough council is taking no chances of any likelihood of a Covid local lockdown in Atherstone and North Warwickshire

Supported by Warwickshire County Council and Ministry of Defence, it is determined to keep the lid on the spread of the virus.

The arrival of the MTU this Sunday and Monday at the Woolpack Way car park following a successful trial in the same location last month "forms an important part of our emergency planning and preparedness work", argued Councillor Wright.

He added: "I want to reassure local residents the arrival of the mobile testing unit in Atherstone is part of our response plan to help us prepare should we need to undertake a local lockdown.

"It does not in any way mean that there is any cause for concern in Atherstone. I hope the MTU won't be needed."

The MTU – covering the borough council and public car parks in Woolpack Way which will be closed on September 13 and 14– is being operated in partnership with Sodexo and will offer assisted and self-administered tests. All tests must be pre-booked – click here or call 119.

The town and wider borough have found themselves in the fortunate position of being a Midlands' back marker for people predicted to have the infection.

But today – as if on cue – the announcement of the MTU came amid fears of a nationwide spike in the number of new Covid-19 cases and in a week when the borough's cases per capita have risen dramatically to 13.8 per 100,000 of population (up from 1.5) with nine new cases in the last seven days (up from one), according to Public Health England figures.

And North Warwickshire has also recorded the county's first death since the beginning of August.

Yesterday, Public Health Warwickshire sent out a warning urging residents to avoid complacency in social settings after "rules were not adhered to" in a visit to a pub and café in the county following a confirmed case of Covid-19.

The advice from associate director Emily Van de Venter came on top of the news that North Warwickshire has recorded the county's first death since the beginning of August.

Atherstone and North Warwickshire remain one of the country's hotspots for Covid fatality rates per head of capita despite seeing its official recorded death toll cut last week.

New Department of Health figures have seen the borough's grim tally cut by 19 – to 68.

But that reduction – which saw Warwickshire's new official death tally from Covid fall from 538 to 445 – has had no impact on the fatality rate per 100,000 population.

Atherstone and North Warwickshire finds their death rate per capita of 104.2 per 100,000 people, putting the borough in 13th place in a local authority league table which is topped by Hertsmere in Hertfordshire at 130.6 per 100,000. Neighbouring Nuneaton and Bedworth is inside the Top Ten in ninth spot with a rate of 111.6.

Twelve days on from that news and Atherstone and North Warwickshire have now recorded 370 coronavirus cases since the pandemic started in March – up 12 from 358 on August 28 – at a rate of 565.4 per 100,000 population.

And its death toll has risen by one to 69 and accounted for the only fatality in the whole of Warwickshire from the beginning of last month. The fatality rate per 100,000 population is now 105.7.

The Warwickshire total for people testing positive has risen by more than 100 in the same time frame from 2,734 to 2,836 confirmed cases at a new rate per 100,000 population of 488.8.

That figure has risen by 11 in the last 24 hours.

Nub News previously revealed no deaths in the first two weeks of August after a "dreadful" June and July and since the beginning of the month until yesterday there has been one more Covid-related fatality in Warwickshire – with the total now being 446.

On a UK footing, a further 2,450, lab-confirmed cases of Covid-19 were reported on Tuesday, following 2,948 and 2,988 on the previous two days – both the largest daily figure since May.

The total number of confirmed cases in the UK has now passed 350,000 – on 352,560 – with a seven-day rate of new UK cases having risen to 21.3 per 100,000 people, just above the threshold of 20 cases per 100,000 at which the Government considers imposing quarantine conditions on people travelling to the UK, if recorded in other countries.

Some 32 new UK deaths were recorded in a 24-hour period, bringing the total to 41,586. There are 757 patients in hospital, 77 of them on ventilators (eight more since yesterday).