Coronavirus: Extra restrictions imposed on parts of Derbyshire

Long Eaton in the Erewash districtErewash Borough Council

Erewash, Chesterfield and North East Derbyshire face tougher restrictions from Saturday

Residents in some parts of Derbyshire will face tougher "tier two" Covid-19 measures, Matt Hancock has announced.

The health secretary said people living in Chesterfield, North East Derbyshire and Erewash face a ban on households mixing indoors from Saturday.

All three areas are close to Nottinghamshire, which is already subject to the same rules.

The new three-tier system and the restrictions they represent were announced in Parliament on Monday.

The measures for the areas of the county will also mean the rule of six will apply outdoors.

Mr Hancock told the Commons: "Infection rates are rising sharply in Barrow-in-Furness, in York, in North East Derbyshire, in Erewash and Chesterfield.

"In all of these places, cases are doubling in less than a fortnight.

"For all of the areas entering the high alert level, the change will come into effect one minute past midnight on Saturday morning."

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All three areas have seen increases in coronavirus cases, according to data

According to latest Public Health England data, Chesterfield's infection rate is 143 per 100,000 people in the week up to 11 October, up from 81 the week before.

In the same period, the number of confirmed cases increased from 85 to 150.

The seven-day infection rate in North East Derbyshire jumped from 136 to 166 in the same period, with cases rising to 169 from 138.

Meanwhile, Erewash's rate increased from 106 per 100,000 people to 168. The number of cases rose from 123 to 194.

Areas in Glossopdale, in the High Peak area of Derbyshire, were also placed on "high" alert earlier this week.

The tier system is divided into "medium", "high" and "very high".

Under "tier two", or the "high" Covid alert, pubs and bars will still have to close at 22:00, but they will not be forced to shut completely.

The county's director of public health Dean Wallace said: "We realise that understanding what the restrictions are and which areas they cover might be confusing for people.

"The new restrictions now in force across parts of Derbyshire cover a very specific area and may not follow natural boundaries that local people understand - it might even be the case that people living in the same street could be subject to different rules."

UK Parliament

Maggie Throup, Conservative MP for Erewash, said she was aware the restrictions were "onerous"

Chesterfield Royal Hospital said its admissions have risen from single to double figures in the last fortnight.

"We have 24 Covid-19 positive patients in our care right now," it confirmed on Facebook.

Carol Hart, Conservative leader of Erewash Borough Council, told the BBC she thinks tougher measures "will make people more aware and hopefully follow the rules".

"If we get the numbers down, we can get back to something like normality. Businesses are struggling already and we don't want to make things worse," she said.

'Challenges'

Maggie Throup, Conservative MP for Erewash, said the restrictions are "onerous" but reminded people to follow guidance on hand washing and social distancing.

Fellow Conservative MP Lee Rowley, said he knows measures will cause "challenges" for people in his North East Derbyshire constituency, adding his priority is to help residents.

And while Labour MP for Chesterfield, Toby Perkins agreed "something has to be done", he said he is "not confident that the measures that the government are proposing are the right ones".

He said he supported Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer's call for a national "circuit breaker", an escalation in test and trace capacity and further support for the hospitality sector.

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