Local areas could be locked down due to COVID-19 outbreaks

A board is to be set up that could see areas of Lincolnshire locked down where there’s a sudden outbreak of COVID-19.

The leader of Lincolnshire County Council Coun Martin Hill told a meeting of the authority’s executive on Tuesday (June 2) about the measures announced as part of central government’s roll out of the ‘Track and Trace’ strategy.

Working with Public Health England it would be able to order lockdowns of areas where COVID-19 was becoming particularly prevalent.

“We are entering into the recovery phase and lockdown, as we’re all aware, has been slowly released,” Coun Hill said. “The tracking and testing will be organised nationally, there will be a requirement locally to help with that process.

“There will be a local board set up which will be chaired by the leader of the county council with other elected representatives which will oversee any local lockdown requirements which are deemed necessary by the local public health board.

“In terms of officers that will be led by the local director of public health Derek Ward and he will advise this local board which will be set up shortly.

“If there is a localised outbreak in an area, that board will take the decision to how that (lockdown) should be done and where it should be done.”

In the latest figures released by the government before The Voice went to press, 276,332 people had tested positive for the disease and as of 5pm on Sunday, May 31, 39,045 had died having tested positive with the virus.

In Lincolnshire itself there have been 1,111 confirmed cases.