COVID 19: Government gives the nod to harsher restrictions in Essex

The government has raised the COVID alert risk to high in Essex on Saturday 17th October as cases continue to rapidly rise and harsher restrictions have been put in place.

Leader of Essex County Council, Cllr David Finch stated “We welcome the government’s announcement today regarding Essex moving to tier two, the high COVID alert level. This is clear recognition of the severity of the situation we find ourselves in as a county, and indeed across many parts of the country.”

This comes after recent data showing that all areas, excluding Maldon, has COVID cases doubling every week with Basildon being the worst hit with 62.5 cases out of 100,000 people per week since the 11th October. This depicts that Essex is a week behind areas in the North and Midlands which are the most affected areas during the second wave of this outbreak.

Although hospital admission rates still remain low, they are steadily starting to increase with 57 people testing positive for COVID in hospitals throughout Essex and unfortunately 13 deaths due to COVID-19 have been recorded compared to none in both areas last month. These alarming figures highlighted that an intervention must be put in place to prevent the spread. Consequently, Essex County Council, assisted with MPS and partners, applied to the Secretary of State for Health to make the toilsome decision to raise the COVID alert from the ‘Medium’ level to ‘High’.

So, what does a High COVID level look like?

Since the 17th October, on top of the medium restrictions such as staying in groups of 6 or less, people are not allowed to socialise with anybody outside of their own household or support bubble in any indoor setting. Despite schools, universities and places of worship are continuing to stay open.

Cllr David Finch continued “These are difficult times for individuals, businesses and communities, but I know that as a county we will come together to support and protect one another- as we have done previously- and that acting sooner rather than later to curb the spread of COVID-19 is the right thing to do”

Essex County Council firmly believes by intervening sooner by toughening restrictions will be enough to help flatten the curve and reduce the number of cases and deaths. In these unpredictable and unprecedented times, only time will tell if there is any possibility of returning to some normality again for Essex.