Like so many of us, I was really disappointed to see that County Durham will be put into the new Tier 3 restrictions next week.
Thanks to everyone playing their part, back in October we were seeing our local cases starting to fall, which was really encouraging. Given the direction things were taking, I fought hard to successfully keep our area out of Tier 3 before the national lockdown, and had really hoped to see the downward trend continue.
However, in early November, we saw cases actually begin to rise again across the county, which is very disappointing.
A whole raft of data has been used to decide which areas go into which Tier, including case detection rates, over 60s rates, hospital occupancy, etc., and Ministerial colleagues assure me these are not decisions taken lightly.
WHY ARE WE LUMPED IN WITH NEWCASTLE?
Some people have asked me why we are being lumped in with Newcastle, etc. However, when looking at the North East 7 councils, our case rates per 100k are sadly very similar, see below. As such, it does make some sense that we would be in the same level of restrictions.
Durham: 293.5
Newcastle: 343
Sunderland: 297
Gateshead: 298
North Tyneside: 299
Northumberland: 248
South Tyneside: 349
I’M IN A VILLAGE WHERE CASES ARE LOW. WHY ARE WE IN TIER 3?
Since local restrictions were first implemented, I have been talking to Ministers regularly about options for breaking the blocks down into smaller areas, with restrictions reflecting much more localised data. Teesdale is an obvious place where largescale restrictions don’t fully take the local picture into account. As we know, the geography of the Dale is such that the population is very spread out, so the chances of mass transmission are much slimmer.
However, I understand the argument against this is that people from higher restriction areas may then choose to visit lower restriction areas where venues are able to open, and inadvertently bring the virus with them. We saw this in rural areas in the Bolsover constituency, which, when surrounded by higher tier areas for a few weeks, then saw its case numbers rise rather dramatically. None of us would want to see this happen in any of our villages.
WHY ARE WE TIER 3 WHEN LONDON IS TIER 2?
Some people have asked why we are in Tier 3 whilst London and Liverpool are in Tier 2. Again, this comes down to the data, with both London and Liverpool having substantially fewer cases per 100k, see below:
London: 181
Liverpool: 174.3
MASS TESTING – THE LIVERPOOL EXAMPLE
The reason Liverpool is very interesting is because the Government trialled mass testing there, with around 40% of Liverpool’s population tested across a short period. Those found to be carrying the virus (many of whom were asymptomatic) were asked to self-isolate, helping to reduce the spread. The Health Secretary confirmed on 23rd Nov that cases in Liverpool were down by more than two-thirds in the last few weeks, with mass testing being cited as the main reason.
As such, I AM PUSHING FOR COUNTY DURHAM TO GET MASS TESTING FACILITIES TO HELP US DRIVE OUR LOCAL CASES DOWN
WHEN WILL THE TIERS BE REVIEWED?
16th December, so it is crucial we all play our part over the next few weeks to drive cases down and try and get County Durham into a lower Tier.
I will later post an update about what Tier 3 restrictions mean, what can and can’t open etc, but first wanted to answer some Qs that have been coming in today.
With great vaccine news on the horizon, there really is a light at the end of the tunnel. But time for one more push.
Dehenna
